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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26164009">Palisman Cafe</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/WaterDragonMaverick/pseuds/WaterDragonMaverick'>WaterDragonMaverick</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Owl House (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops &amp; Cafés, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Canon Compliant, Eventual Romance, Friendship, Gen, Humor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 02:41:50</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>41,482</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26164009</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/WaterDragonMaverick/pseuds/WaterDragonMaverick</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Luz Noceda didn't want to go to summer camp and tried to convince her mother otherwise. As such, Luz is willing to work in a cafe for her summer. But when she gets into the town of Bonesborough, she soon learns that her new job isn't as typical as she thought when she chases an owl and meets the cafe owner, Eda the Owl Lady. With her summer getting more interesting, Luz decides to stick with the new job.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Amity Blight &amp; Edric Blight &amp; Emira Blight, Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Camilia Noceda &amp; Luz Noceda, Eda Clawthorne &amp; King &amp; Luz Noceda, Edric Blight &amp; Emira Blight &amp; Luz Noceda, Gus &amp; Luz Noceda &amp; Willow Park</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>279</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. A Different Kind of Cafe</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Hello, WaterDragonMaverick here with my first fanfic for The Owl House. I love this series and I thought that with the first season ending already, I would try making my own AU for the show. If you want to know what I have planned, here's the basic details for this story. Instead of having to go to summer camp, Luz is given another choice to prove that she can handle herself in the real world to her mother. In order to that, she gets a job at a café. However, she quickly learns that it's not your typical establishment when she first meets the owner.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>The Owl House is owned by Disney and was created by Dana Terrace</strong>
</p><hr/><p>"And that's the end," Luz Noceda said as she held a Good Witch Azura doll and a small snake in her hands.</p><p>"The end of what," her mother, Camilla questioned as she and the school principal looked at the teenager.</p><p>"My book report of Good Witch Azura," Luz said while the snake she held bit her doll. "I think I knocked it out of the park," she added.</p><p>"Luz, your book report is why you're in here," the principal said as he gestured to the window of his office door.</p><p>Luz turned to see what he meant and watched as some of her classmates were running around screaming as snakes bit down on their hair. "Oh. That's where the backup snakes were," Luz casually remarked as she finally got the answer to a question she was wondering before her mother arrived.</p><p>"And what were you going to do with <em>this</em>," Camilla asked as she held a large firecracker with some smaller ones tied to it.</p><p>"That was for the Act 3 closer," Luz explained in a defeated tone as she knew the fireworks meant she was in trouble.</p><p>"Mija, I love your creativity, but it's gotten out of hand," Camilla told her daughter. "Do you remember why you were sent to the principal's office the last three times?" Luz thought back to her audition for the school play where she tried to use sausages as fake guts, her taxidermy griffin with 'anatomically correct' spider breath, and trying to impress the girls at cheerleading tryouts by turning her eyelids inside-out and grossing them out. "We all love that you express yourself, but if you can't learn to separate fantasy from reality, you may need to spend your summer here," Camilla stated as she showed Luz a pamphlet for 'Reality Check Summer Camp'.</p><p>"Mom, you can't send me here! I don't want to go to summer camp," Luz exclaimed as she dropped her doll and the snake, which slithered out of the office immediately. "So, I like different things than other kids. That doesn't mean I should be sent to a camp that's showing off red flags with a slogan like 'Think Inside The Box'. Please don't send me there," Luz begged.</p><p>"This place will teach you all kinds of things you can use in real life like balancing checkbooks and... appreciate public radio," Camilla said as she tried to reason with her daughter.</p><p>"But I don't like that stuff, Mom! I like editing anime clips to music and reading fantasy books with convoluted backstories," Luz voiced.</p><p>"I'm not saying you need to abandon all your interests, but your fantasy world is holding you back," Camilla explained. "Do you have any real friends? Real ones, not drawn or imaginary or reptilian."</p><p>Luz tried to think of a reply, but she knew that her mom was right about her behavior being off-putting to her classmates. Because of her enthusiasm and quirky behavior, she was labeled as an outcast by most of her peers. Most of the students she knew that she got along with were mainly just acquaintances that greeted her in the hall or in class. "I still don't want to go to this camp. How would I make friends with kids that would be forced to go there?"</p><p>"Camilla, is there anything else that can help Luz with controlling herself and learning responsibility? I remember getting a job over the summer when I was her age," the principal voiced.</p><p>Thinking about the option, Camilla remembered somebody she helped just earlier in the month and dug into her purse to find a business card. "There is something we could arrange," she said as she looked at the owl design on the card.</p><hr/><p>Luz sighed as she made sure that she had her stuff in her bag ready for when her bus arrived. She was glad that she wasn't being sent to summer camp, but she still thought that working in a café wasn't how she would spend her summer. "Oh, my baby," Camilla said as she came out of the Noceda home and hugged Luz. "Now don't worry. I've met the woman who will look after you while you're in her town. She was a patient of mine and she says she owes me a favor."</p><p>"But you're a nurse. Why would she owe you? It's your job," Luz questioned.</p><p>"She was pretty insistent after I helped her. Especially since she said her condition was something being researched," Camilla said, not exactly knowing the full details herself. "But I'm sure that if you're working in that café, you'll make some real friends in this 'Bonesborough' place. You just have to try." As she said this, her phone buzzed and she checked the time. "Oh. I have to go to work now," she said before kissing Luz's forehead a few times. "Your bus is coming soon. Text me when you get there. Cuídate mucho, mija. ¡Qué te vaya bien!"</p><p>With her mother wishing her luck and telling her to take care of herself, Luz bid farewell to her. "Bye, Mom." As she waited for the bus, she opened her bag to get a book to read. "Good Witch Azura or Fairy Tail," she pondered to herself as she tried to choose between her novel and manga. Eventually, she decided to read more Azura before her bus arrived and took her to 'Bonesborough'. As she read her favorite series, she eventually saw the bus stop in the town she needed to reach. Stepping off the bus, she looked at the area in wonder before she pulled out the card for the café she was supposed to work at. Wandering around, she found a marketplace and heard a hooting sound coming from an owl that was looking at her. "Hello, you tiny cutie. I don't suppose you know where I can find this place, right," Luz joked as she spoke to the owl while holding the card. Suddenly, the bird flew up and grabbed the card out of her hand. "Hey! I need that," Luz exclaimed as she started to chase after the bird.</p><p>Running through the marketplace and avoiding all the people she could, Luz managed to keep following the owl. "Hey, watch it," exclaimed a girl with pink hair and a uniform with yellow sleeves and leggings while her friend in a similar uniform with red sleeves and leggings just watched Luz give chase. Luz ignored the complaining girl as she ducked and dodged various other people.</p><p>Soon, the owl reached a large building just outside of town and hopped inside through a pet door. "Stop adorably hopping away, you little... Whoa," Luz said as she entered the building and saw the interior was similar to what she'd expect from a witch's house.</p><p>"Finally, you're back," said a woman's voice, making Luz turn to see the small owl she was chasing landed on a counter. "What's this? One of my cards? Who'd you get this from Owlbert," questioned a woman with long silver hair, yellow eyes, and a red dress with an apron that had an owl logo. "Ah, another customer. Can I interest you in a drink? A little time with some of the birds? How about a seat while you check the menu," she said as she looked at Luz.</p><p>"Um, I'm actually wondering if you know where I can find the location on that card you have," Luz said as she spoke to the woman, then looked around the building. As she did, she heard another owl hooting and turned to see one perched next to the door. "Ah! That scared me," Luz said after she let out a yelp.</p><p>"Oh yeah, Hooty likes to keep watch over the place. And you just happen to be where you need to be," the woman stated as she got a closer look at Luz. "Ah, you must be the girl I was asked to look after. Welcome to the Palisman Café! Also known by my regulars as 'The Owl House'. I'm Eda Clawthorne, the owner of this café and known as 'The Owl Lady' to everyone who stops by."</p><p>"Whoa. Are you a witch," Luz asked with a smile on her face as Eda carried herself with pride and Owlbert flew onto her shoulder.</p><p>"Ha! I wish," Eda laughed. "I'd probably be the most powerful witch out there if I was. I'm just a woman with a love of owls and animals that wanted to have my own little place for people to unwind and hide away from the pressures of modern life," she stated. "Also, the cops. Mm, also ex-boyfriends," she added with a chuckle.</p><p>"Wow! You run this place all by yourself," Luz asked in amazement before she heard something coming from the next room.</p><p>"Actually, I have a roommate," Eda said as she knew who was coming toward them.</p><p>As the footsteps seemed to thud, a deep voice rang out. <strong>"Who dares intrude upon I," </strong>the voice boomed before radio static sounded out for a second, "the king of demons," the voice said in a higher pitch and revealed itself to be a corgi-husky mix with a torn left ear and biting down on a squeaky chew toy.</p><p>Immediately upon seeing the dog, Luz gasped with wide eyes and a blush on her cheeks before rushing toward him. "¡Ay, que lindo! Eda, he's so cute," Luz exclaimed as she hugged the dog, not questioning why he could talk yet. She was too busy gushing over how adorable he was. "Who's a widdle guy? Who's a widdle guy? Is it you? Is it you," she asked the dog rhetorically as she started speaking in baby talk.</p><p>"No! I don't know who your little guy is! Eda, who is this monster," the dog 'exclaimed' as he tried to struggle out of Luz's hug.</p><p>"King, this is our new hire for the café," Eda told the dog as she pulled back Luz, who was still trying to snuggle the canine.</p><p>"Oh, hooray," King 'said' as he wagged his tail.</p><p>After being held back, the realization hit Luz like a soccer ball to the face. "Wait, how can he talk," Luz asked. "Is he actually a demon like he said?"</p><p>"Of course not," Eda said. "Even if he was, he'd still have that cute face."</p><p>"Please don't encourage her," King exclaimed in fear as his tail went between his legs.</p><p>"Let me explain. The collar that King wears is part of an experiment to translate the thoughts of animals into actual language. Sounded like it was on the fritz earlier with the deep voice," Eda told Luz.</p><p>"Well, he's still a little bundle of joy," Luz remarked as she hugged King again. "And that collar sounds a lot like that movie with the old man trying to fly his house to South America with all those balloons."</p><p>Eda simply shrugged before she spoke again. "What did you say your name was?"</p><p>"I'm Luz. Luz Noceda."</p><p>"Well, Luz, I heard about your situation from your mother and I'm fine with keeping you here for the summer. Just know that you'll have to pull your weight," Eda explained as King got himself free. "Now, I'll teach you how things work around this place. It's just like a normal café, but there's a separate room where people can play with Hooty, King, and several other animals as long as they're careful with them."</p><p>Luz nodded as she remembered some of her favorite manga and anime having similar places. "So, this place is like an animal café from Japan?"</p><p>"Exactly," Eda stated. "But on weekends, I like to sell collectibles that Owlbert here likes to find out of the garbage. Just clean them up and put the pieces back together, then I can sell them to whoever wants to buy them. It's the closest thing to magic you'll get from me here. You'll be amazed at all the junk people collect when at flea markets and garage sales," she explained.</p><p>Luz smiled as she listened to Eda. "This is already better than summer camp," she exclaimed as she shook her hands excitedly.</p><p>Soon, Hooty sounded off and a woman with a laptop stepped inside to have a seat. "Keep an eye on me and I'll teach you what you need. I always say it's best to learn from experience," Eda told Luz before speaking to the regular. "Welcome to the Palisman Café. How may I help you today?"</p><hr/><p>After spending the rest of the day learning how to greet customers, take orders, and even playing with some of the animals, Luz was shown to the room that Eda was letting her sleep in. "It's not much because I never really expected a lot of overnight visitors, but I'm sure you'll find it comfortable," Eda explained as she opened the door to an old storage closet. Luz didn't mind the makeshift room as she simply hugged Eda, taking the woman by surprise. "Ah! Kid, what are you doing? I'm just giving you an old closet to sleep in."</p><p>"This just means a lot to me," Luz explains.</p><p>"Well, I mainly just need you to keep that little goofball out of the cupboards," Eda remarked as she referred to King before yawning. "I'm going to bed," Eda told the girl. "You should do the same."</p><p>As Eda left for her own room, Owlbert flew onto her shoulder and nuzzled against her cheek before they vanished from Luz's sight. Luz smiled as she unrolled a sleeping bag after she changed into some shorts and a tank top. Soon, King wandered into the room and looked at Luz just before she checked her phone. "Your sleep cocoon looks fluffy," King remarked.</p><p>Luz patted her sleeping bag and King walked in a circle at her feet to make it comfortable for himself, then he went to sleep. Smiling at the dog, Luz soon checked her phone and saw a message from her mom asking how the café was. "I think I'm going to like it here," Luz said as she typed her response to her mother, then went to sleep soon after turning off her phone. The only sounds she could hear were King's breathing and the occasional hoot of an owl outside the building.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>Okay. I think this is a good start to this AU. I plan on introducing Luz's eventual friends in about Chapter 3, so the next one will just be Luz's first day at work. I'll say this about what will happen. She'll make some mistakes, but Luz will be able to get through everything and help Eda out. I also plan on Willow, Gus, and even Amity to help out with the café a bit when they reach the Owl House for themselves. For now, we'll just focus on Luz's summer job.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>I hope you enjoyed this first chapter because I'm going to try figuring out how to work canon moments into the fic. I'm definitely going to add in Lumity, so don't worry shippers. Just have to wait for those Amity chapters. I also hope you like the tweaks I'm giving to Eda and King. I just thought it wouldn't be the same without King talking. He's basically a dog with cat-like energy, but he'll definitely still have hilarious moments of cuteness.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>I'll try to get chapters of this done in my free time, but this fic is more for fun than my other ones for RWBY. Until then, enjoy what you can and I hope to get more readers.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>WaterDragonMaverick, signing out.</strong>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Good with the Bad</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>WaterDragonMaverick here with the next chapter of "Palisman Café". I wanted to get a few chapters of this done as soon as I could because the idea is fresh in my head and I want to share it with you after the Season 1 finale of The Owl House. This show is just amazing and I love it so much. That ending was great and I enjoyed it. I'm wondering what will happen next season.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Now then, Luz has reached Bonesborough and has made it to the Owl House, which is the nickname of Eda's café. With Eda, King, Hooty, and Owlbert introduced, Luz already loves the place and is looking forward to her first day of work. Let's see if she can actually handle it.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Good Morning!</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>The Owl House is owned by Disney and was created by Dana Terrace</strong>
</p><hr/><p>Luz was tossing and turning in her sleep most of the night, but soon woke up to see that she still wasn't at camp. "Okay, so maybe it wasn't entirely a dream," Luz said with a small smile on her face. "Still, learning magic would have been cool," she mumbled to herself before opening the window in her room. "Good morning, Bonesborough," she exclaimed out loud as she looked outside.</p><p>"Good morning," greeted somebody from below, prompting Luz to look down and see it was the mailman putting a few things in Eda's mailbox.</p><p>Soon, she saw Hooty immediately went to collect the mail and bring it inside. "Smart bird," Luz remarked as she watched Hooty exit through the animal door and fly up to what she thought was the upstairs bathroom. Looking at her sleeping bag, Luz picked up King and happily greeted him. "Good morning, you little cutie-pie."</p><p>"I am not your cutie-pie," King exclaimed with his translation collar as he tried to struggle out of Luz's hands while she kissed his face.</p><p>"Yes, you are," Luz playfully countered while hugging him, leaving King to sigh in defeat and agreement as she put him down. After she changed into her usual outfit of a white and indigo hoodie with cat ears, high-waisted jean shorts, dark leggings, and white shoes, Luz went to the bathroom to freshen up. Opening the door, a pair of owls flew out and surprised her. "Eda really has a thing for owls," Luz said to herself before she saw Hooty perched on the bathroom's windowsill and apparently greet her. "Sorry, Hooty. I need to get ready," Luz says to the barn owl as she gestures for him to leave out the window. When he did, she turned to the mirror and picked up the copy of her Azura book she left on the counter last night. "This is it, old girl," she said to herself as she looked at her reflection. "Your first day of work at the Palisman Café."</p><p>"Can you hurry up in there," King said as he scratched at the bathroom door. "I need to go outside and Eda's still asleep."</p><p>After letting King outside through the back door, Luz soon went to get into her work uniform, which was an apron with the same owl logo as the café. While she noted that the design resembled Owlbert, Luz soon heard footsteps from upstairs and eagerly waited at the bottom for Eda, making sure her nametag was on right. Soon, Eda came into view and yawned loudly. She was currently wearing a plum-colored sweater with amber cuffs on the sleeves, an old stained violet nightgown, and yellow bunny slippers. "Good morning, Eda the Owl Lady. I'm ready for work," Luz said excitedly.</p><p>Unfortunately, Eda only groaned as she tried to shake herself awake. "Ugh. Who are you again," she questioned, shocking Luz as her nametag fell off her apron.</p><p>Luz couldn't believe what she heard and followed Eda into the kitchen. "Remember me? Luz? The girl you hired for the summer? Yesterday?"</p><p>"Kid, lay off the details," Eda said as she grabbed a mug that said 'Thirty and Flirty'. "I'm not a morning person and I haven't had my coffee yet," she explained as she poured her drink.</p><p>As Luz let King back inside, she spoke to Eda as the older woman slurped her drink. "I'm just excited to be here. It might not be learning to be a witch like my dream last night, but this place is so cool and I'm ready to work."</p><p>"That so," Eda remarked as she was finally awake. "Well, you can start by feeding the animals in the café," she told the Latina. "Owlbert, Hooty, and the other birds can catch mice and stuff in the forest, so don't worry about them. However, King and the cats do need to get some food."</p><p>"On it," Luz said as she found a bag of cat food in the kitchen and started to carry it with a struggle. "Agh! Curse you, weak nerd arms," Luz exclaimed as she tried to do her first job of the day. After a few minutes of struggling, Luz managed to enter the animal area of the café and started to feed the small number of cats that were happy to see the girl with their food. "Awww, so cute," Luz said before putting on her hood and making sure the ears stuck up. "Meow meow!" The cats just ignored her and ate the food she gave them, but a black cat with white paws and a patch of white fur over one eye nuzzled against her leg for attention. "Don't worry, little lady. I've got enough for you, too," Luz said as she poured some food into an empty dish.</p><p>"Luz! I'm hungry," King barked as his collar voiced his thoughts.</p><p>"Cálmese," Luz told the dog in Spanish as she finished feeding the cats. When she did, she saw King circling around her and begging to be fed. "Okay, you precious little demon. What do you want?"</p><p>"He's basically got an iron stomach, so he can have whatever he wants," Eda called out from upstairs. "Just no chocolate," she added as a warning.</p><p>"Well, I know that," Luz remarked before finding a can of dog food and opening it for the canine. "Here you go," she said to King as she put the food in his dish on the kitchen floor and watched him dig in while his collar voiced his thoughts on the food. "Well, aren't you a messy eater."</p><p>King simply ate while he 'spoke' with Luz. "Hey, a king can eat any way he wants! But I wouldn't mind cupcakes or scones."</p><p>"Absolutely not," Eda said as she returned wearing her red dress and work apron. "The scones are for the customers and last I checked; they won't pay to feed the dog with their own dessert."</p><p>"They should bow to me as all peasants should," King began to rant. "They should worship their ruler!"</p><p>As King continued to rant, Eda rolled her eyes with a smile before turning to Luz. "Watch this," she said as Owlbert brought her a tennis ball and she gently tossed it onto the floor.</p><p>"I will stand atop the city as th- BALL! IT'S A BALL! I'LL CATCH IT AND BRING IT BACK," King continued before he saw the bouncing tennis ball and immediately ran after it, slipping on the floor of the café's main room a little as he turned to chase it.</p><p>Seeing King change from a wannabe demon lord to a normal dog in the blink of an eye made Luz gush over his adorableness even more. "O-ho-ho-ho... He's so cute!"</p><p>"Yeah, you just have to know how to handle him and you'll be fine," Eda said as she started checking the mail Hooty brought. "Now then, make sure he doesn't destroy the café and we'll open up."</p><p>Luz agreed and immediately got to work. Seeing that King was trying to get the ball out from between a chair and the main counter of the café bar, Luz started to record King's struggle on her phone before he got the object of his current desire. "This is going on the internet," Luz whispered to herself before putting her phone away.</p><p>"You will do no such thing," King exclaimed as he looked up at Luz. Trying to look intimidating, but failing from the ball in his mouth and getting stuck against the chair. "Uh, a little help?"</p><p>After getting King free, Luz watched as Eda came in and the two started to set tables up. After everything was prepared, a few regulars arrived and Eda started taking their orders. "Alright kid, next one that shows up is all yours," Eda told Luz.</p><p>"Yes, Ma'am," Luz replied with a nod. About ten minutes after Eda started giving the customers their order, Luz heard Hooty cry out like he was the door's bell. "Hi, welcome to the Palisman Café," Luz greeted before she got a good look at the customer. Seeing a handsome teenage boy with a muscular upper body, she ended up staring for a little too long. "Thirsty," Luz muttered to herself as she admired the boy.</p><p>"Yes, I am," the boy said as he found an empty table and sat down, prompting Luz to blush as she didn't expect him to hear her. Calming down, she went to take his order. "I'll just have a cup of black coffee," he says in a brooding tone that makes Luz think he had a mysterious and tragic backstory.</p><p>"Coming up," Luz replied as she went to Eda and got the drink. "One cup of coffee, dark and hot like y-," Luz said as she approached the boy, but ended up tripping on something and the coffee splashed onto him by mistake.</p><p>"AH! My flawless pecs," the boy exclaimed as he ripped his shirt off to dry off the coffee that spilled on him.</p><p>"I am <em>so </em>sorry," Luz said as she looked up at him and tried to look him in the eye, but failed as her attention drifted to his muscular torso.</p><p>Her distracted attention was soon changed when she heard Eda speak to her. "Luz, did you make sure to close the door to the animal area?" Before Luz could think, she saw that she ended up tripping over one of the cats and realized that she forgot to close the door after feeding them.</p><p>"Oops," Luz said as she realized her error.</p><p>"It's a simple mistake," Eda explains. "Happened to me a few times when I first opened this place." The woman turned to the teenage boy and apologized for Luz's actions. "New hires. Everyone makes a mistake. Let me get you a new drink."</p><p>As Eda helped the customer, Luz sighed dejectedly. "Stupid," she whispered to herself as she picked up the cat that she tripped over and put them back in the animal area just as Eda gave the teenager his drink in a to-go cup. "That's two fumbles in one," Luz said to herself.</p><p>"Ah, don't worry about it. Happened to me when I first opened the place," Eda explained. "Besides, I charged that pretty boy for both drinks," she added with a whisper. Seeing Luz was upset at her mistake, Eda decided to give her another task. "Okay, if you want to make up for that rookie moment, some customers order over the phone and want their stuff delivered. How about you take King with you and check out the town while you do that?"</p><p>"WHAT!? Why would I do that," King complained as he woke up from a nap under a window. "I just found the perfect spot!"</p><p>"You and I both know that she'll get lost," Eda countered. "Besides, you work for me, too. Unless you want to start paying rent." King fussed in annoyance because Eda was correct, so he went with Luz after she was given a large bag of orders. "Be back by nightfall or Hooty will probably lock you out," Eda said in a joking manner.</p><hr/><p>With a list of delivery orders and addresses in Bonesborough, Luz began to make her way through town with King guiding her. "Ah, don't feel bad, Luz," King told the girl. "Even Eda's done some lame stuff like that before."</p><p>"I bet she at least didn't screw up immediately like I did," Luz bemoaned as she got to the first house and rang the doorbell. "Delivery from the Owl Ho- I mean, Palisman Café," Luz said, feeling like she screwed up again when she spoke up.</p><p>After a few successful deliveries, Luz's mood still didn't improve as she and King sat down on the sidewalk to take a lunch break next to a hot dog cart. King was easily chowing down on the food Luz bought for him, but Luz was barely eating her own. "Boy, delivering food sure makes you hungry. You gonna eat that," King said before asking about Luz's hot dog.</p><p>Luz simply dropped it for King to eat and dug through the bag of orders to find her Azura book, which she brought with her to try making herself happy. "If only I was in a magical world. By this point, Azura had already been sent on a magical quest. Where's my magical quest-granting wizard," Luz said as she was upset about her day.</p><p>"Luz, even if this place was magic, nobody here would be dressed like that," King remarked as he looked at the book and gestured to the hot dog vendor. "Besides, that 'chosen one' nonsense is a bunch of baloney. And not the kind you make sandwiches with."</p><p>"You're just saying that because you'd be the snarky animal sidekick if I was a character like Azura," Luz countered.</p><p>"And I'd own it like Eda does with her gray hair! I like to see myself as the Salem Saberhagen of the Owl House," King retorted.</p><p>"Eda watches that old show," Luz questioned in amusement as she remembers watching reruns of 'Sabrina the Teenage Witch' at home between creating content for her fandoms and school work. "So, what, do you go into chatrooms online and pretend to be a woman?"</p><p>"I like the attention," King commented as he scratched his ear with his hind leg.</p><p>Hearing the line from King made Luz chuckle and she cheered up a little. "Okay, let's get these last few deliveries done and return to the café," Luz told the dog.</p><hr/><p>When Luz finished her deliveries, she returned to the Owl House and saw Eda serving another customer, who Luz recognized from the day before. "Ah, Luz. You're back," Eda said as she looked at her direction, alerted by Hooty. "Take over for me while I head to the storage shed for more coffee beans," she told Luz.</p><p>Before Luz could protest, Eda left quickly and quietly, like she was a trained owl stealing somebody's wallet. Still feeling upset about her mistake earlier that day, Luz quietly just looked at the woman typing at her laptop. When she did, she noticed the details of what was being written. "Is that a story," Luz questioned as she caught the woman's attention.</p><p>"Yeah. I write fanfiction of food falling in love. I like food, I like love, just let me write about it," the woman exclaimed passionately.</p><p>"Hey, I dream of being a writer myself," Luz said. "I've even had an author's picture planned since I was 7," she added as she showed the woman a photograph of herself as a kid leaning against the window with a smug and knowing smile.</p><p>The author chuckled at the photo as Luz showed her. "Not a bad picture, kid. Think you can help me figure out something as a potential reader," she asked as she became friendly with Luz. Agreeing to do so, Luz gave the writer some advice about certain scenes just as Eda came back with the coffee. After a good half-hour of discussions and progress, the author got up and paid Eda. "That new girl is pretty helpful. I think I might get here earlier next time," she said to the café owner.</p><p>Eda looked at Luz and saw that the girl's mood improved a lot since her mistake before. "Well, you seem to have cheered up a bit," she said to Luz just as Owlbert flew onto the counter. "You want to see something cool?"</p><p>Luz nodded and Eda put a small camera on Owlbert's leg. The small bird flew out the window while Eda pulled out her laptop from under the counter, gesturing for Luz to join her. When she did, the Dominican-American girl was amazed at the footage of Owlbert's camera on the screen. "Wow... Is that really the town," Luz asked as she saw the red trees surrounding the town and ocean waves crashing against the shoreline.</p><p>"Yup. It's a marvel to see from another perspective," Eda stated before speaking to Luz in a more serious tone. "When I was starting this café, I made plenty of mistakes. But I learned to take the good with the bad. Especially when it meant that I could see things like this and meet all the animals here in the café."</p><p>Luz listened to Eda as she watched Owlbert fly around the sky, broadcasting views of the town and the surrounding landscape. "I would have thought you could only get this sort of view by flying yourself," Luz commented.</p><p>"Like a 'chosen one', right," King commented with a chuckle.</p><p>"Chosen one? That malarkey? Everyone wants to believe they're 'chosen'. But if we waited around for something to make us special, we'd die waiting," Eda stated. "You need to choose for yourself. Make your own path by figuring out what to do from your mistakes."</p><p>Luz smiled as she listened to Eda, watching Owlbert fly back into the café and land in front of the trio. Taking off the camera and turning it off, Eda soon scratched Owlbert and Luz listened to him make a content sound. "My own path as I take the good with the bad," Luz said to herself as she looked outside.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>And with this chapter done, Luz has learned that she can't always do things right immediately. Now with this chapter done, we can move onto the next chapter and what I really want to do. We'll be having Luz's interactions with this AU's version of Hexside! It took me a little effort to figure out how to adapt the magic types into real classes, but I'm happy with how I figured out some of the more difficult ones. You'll see how Luz does when helping Willow here.</strong>
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  <strong>I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the last one. I enjoyed writing King's scenes of him reminding Luz and the readers he was a dog in this fic. That will definitely be a source of humor in the fic when he's around. I also liked adding in the references to episode 2, "Witches Before Wizards".</strong>
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  <strong>Until next time, WaterDragonMaverick signing out.</strong>
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<a name="section0003"><h2>3. I Was A Teenage Automaton</h2></a>
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  <strong>Hello, everyone. WaterDragonMaverick here with the third chapter of "Palisman Café". Last time, Luz was eager to start working at the café, but ended up making a few mistakes that she wasn't happy about, even if it wasn't anything major to Eda. After some time to think and getting along with a regular, Luz managed to return to her normal self and is ready for her summer to continue.</strong>
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  <strong>I'm excited to show this chapter off because we get Luz interacting with her future friends and it will help lead into future chapters for this fic. I have plans for Willow, Gus, and even Amity after this chapter, so get ready to see what they'll be like during this chapter and in future ones.</strong>
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  <strong>The Owl House is owned by Disney and was created by Dana Terrace</strong>
</p><hr/><p>After another few days of working for Eda, Luz was enjoying herself after the mistakes of her first official day. When she was finished taking out the garbage with Eda that morning, Luz found herself on the nearby beach with the café owner. "Why are we here, Eda," the teenager asked as she looked at the water.</p><p>"You'd be amazed what kind of garbage washes up on the beach this early," Eda remarked as she carried a shovel and a metal detector. "I'm keeping the café closed for the morning so we can get digging for treasure!"</p><p>Luz was hesitant at the idea of digging around in the sand all morning. "Honestly, I'd rather be in summer school than just looking for people's garbage or dropped change in the sand," she told Eda.</p><p>"Ugh, school was the worst," Eda groaned. "I never finished school, but I've actually got a café that does well. Who wouldn't envy where I am today!? Honestly, Hexside shouldn't have that summer school program," she stated.</p><p>"Summer school," Luz questioned. "Is that why I haven't seen that many teens around the café?"</p><p>"That and the rumors about me," Eda answered before she saw Luz looking off with a lonely expression. Sighing as she turned to look at the girl, Eda spoke again. "If you want to make friends in your grade, the school is actually close to the café. I'm sure around this time you'll find a student or two on their way to that children's prison."</p><p>Perking up when she heard Eda explain things, Luz started heading back to the Palisman Café to start searching for the path to 'Hexside'. "Thanks, Eda! I'll be back later to help with the afternoon shift," she said to the woman. "Love you, King. You little beach peach," Luz said to King as she scratched his belly, making the dog happy and his translator collar let him giggle.</p><p>"More for me, then," Eda called out as she started to search through the shore, quickly shoveling sand away when she found something with her detector. "There we go." When she started digging, King was soon buried up to his collar from sand falling on top of him.</p><p>"AH! I am not a bone," King exclaimed as he tried to free himself from the small dune.</p><hr/><p>Luz was soon walking through the forest near the café as she left the beach. "If I was on the beach for the summer, I'd rather go swimming," Luz said to herself. "Now, let's see if I can find this school."</p><p>"You can do it! You can," said a girl's voice that sounded about Luz's age, surprising her.</p><p>"Mysterious voice of encouragement," Luz questioned before walking toward where she heard the voice, peeking through some of the foliage to find a stocky Korean girl with glasses wearing a school uniform that reminded her of a witch's cowl. "She must go to Hexside," Luz said to herself as she watched and listened to the girl, taking note of her magenta sleeves and leggings. Luz also saw a cart with a bunch of scrap metal on it, as if the girl pieced it together into something.</p><p>"You can do it! Even if you get a bad grade, it's not a reflection of you as a student. And my parents are right. There are better opportunities in my track," she said as she gave herself a pep talk. "Now get to school," she declared as she struck a determined pose, but accidentally crushed a flower when she stomped her foot. "Oh no! Oh, little friend! I'm sorry," she exclaimed as she saw the flower under her foot. Kneeling down to check on the plant, the girl sighed in relief as it wasn't destroyed completely and grabbed a small metal rod along with some tape. Putting the rod in the ground and using the tape to stick the flower to it, Luz was pleasantly surprised to see the girl put the flower back upright for it to heal naturally.</p><p>As the girl was satisfied with what she did, she soon heard the sound of wheels moving toward her. Looking at where it was coming from, she and Luz saw a green-haired girl with brown roots in a similar outfit walk toward the former with a wagon carrying a large metal box. Looking away from the book she was reading, the girl spoke. "Willow. Wow, you're so unnoticeable, I almost walked into you," the girl said.</p><p>"Hi, Amity," Willow greeted the girl in a slightly resentful tone after the flower she looked after symbolically fell back to the ground.</p><p>"Shouldn't you get to class early to prep your-," Amity questioned before the heap of metal that was in Willow's cart fell over and make random beeps before sparking erratically and dying down a moment later. "Oh, Willow. You don't have anything to show, do you," Amity remarked with some compassion that Luz could pick up, but could see that 'Amity' viewed herself as Willow's superior, which made her words come off as condescending.</p><p>"Teen drama," Luz whispered to herself as Willow tried to hide under her uniform's hood with an embarrassed blush.</p><p>Amity sighed as she walked up to Willow. "This is why everyone's been calling you 'Halfwit Willow' since attending Hexside," she stated before she looked at the box she had. "I think someone wants to see you," she remarks. "Automaton, rise," Amity ordered with a snap of her fingers and the box she had unfolded into a robot with three eyes.</p><p>Luz watched as the machine looked at Willow, then lifted a hand to the girl's forehead to draw a star on her with a pen in the finger. "<strong>YOU'RE A STAR</strong>," the robot said mechanically.</p><p>"Aw, It's like mine," Amity said as she adjusted a star-shaped badge on her uniform that read 'Top Student'. "Only smaller and meaningless," she added in the same condescending compassion. "But as Top Student, it's my duty to tell you to keep at it. Even you can get a passing grade someday," she told the girl before pointing at her robot in the wagon. "Automaton, cower," she ordered and the machine returned to the compact form it was in. "See you in class, superstar," Amity said before walking away with her project.</p><p>As Amity left, Willow took off her hood and Luz stuck out her tongue at the green-haired girl's back for her attitude. When Willow thought she was alone again, she started talking to herself. "Oh, <em>see you in class, superstar. </em>I hate when she does that," Willow said as she parroted the last words Amity told her and angrily wiped the wet ink off her face. Luz watched as she could tell Willow's anger was building just as the wind started picking up and blowing loose leaves around. "I hate making robots! I hate getting bad grades! Ugh, I can't stand this anymore," Willow exclaimed with a growl before she turned to her broken robot and started to kick it multiple times.</p><p>Luz watched as Willow started venting her anger using Taekwondo techniques on her failure of an automaton while shouting in Korean, which ended up causing a piece of metal to fly toward Luz in the bushes. "Agh! Mierda! Watch where you're kicking things," Luz called out, catching Willow's attention.</p><p>"Oh no no no no. I'm so sorry," Willow apologized as she saw Luz. "I didn't think anybody was here beside me."</p><p>"It's okay, the robot part didn't hurt me. Some thorns in the bushes only broke a few layers of skin," Luz said before Willow got a closer look at her.</p><p>"You're not from town, are you," Willow questioned.</p><p>"I'm here because I'm working at a café instead of going to summer camp," Luz explained. "It hasn't even been a week yet."</p><p>"Really? Which one," Willow asked before hearing a bell ringing. "Uh-uh, I'm sorry. I can't stay. I have to go disappoint my teacher," she told Luz before walking away. "It was nice meeting you."</p><p>Luz looked at the Korean girl as she started gathering her things, but Luz ran toward her. "Wait! I'm Luz. And I heard that Amity girl say you were 'Willow', right? What you did with that flower and the kicking was... Wow."</p><p>"Um, thanks. But I'm not in any classes involving plants. My parents put me in the Automaton Track in school. And the Taekwondo is to help me with self-defense and discipline," Willow told Luz sadly.</p><p>"You make robots for summer school," Luz asked excitedly. "I'm so jealous! Summer school back home was mainly remedial stuff. Not these cool projects. My mentor at the café says that her time in school was bad, but I wish I could see Hexside for myself. Even if just a day."</p><p>"I wish I would get a passing grade for once," Willow remarked. "Then, everyone would stop calling me 'Halfwit Willow'. Too bad I'd need a robot that can actually move," she added as she kicked a rock nearby her pile of scrap metal that used to be her robot.</p><p>Looking down at the pieces, Luz picked one up and held it up to her arm. "Wait, I know how we can both get what we want," Luz said as she grabbed as many pieces she could and created a pair of armored leggings. "I'll wear the parts of your robot just like armor. Then, you can pass me off as your project and show me the school," she elaborated.</p><p>"What!?"</p><p>"I saw that girl's thing. It's just metal that talks weird," Luz stated. "I wear armor like a Kamen Rider and talk like a robot, then we get away with a fiendishly clever scheme."</p><p>"That's true," Willow remarks before extending her hand. "Okay, it's a deal, Luz!"</p><p>"This is a great plan," Luz said as she shook Willow's hand and started to gather more scrap when they let go. Unfortunately, the Latina tripped over her own metal feet. "Yup. Great plan," she moaned out in discomfort, but still excited for her idea and made Willow smile.</p><p>"Uh, before we get the pieces on, I have to ask. What's a Kamen Rider," Willow said, prompting Luz to grab her shoulders and look the girl dead in the eye when she got up.</p><p>"I have so much to show you later," Luz stated in a serious voice.</p><hr/><p>After putting the metal on her and applying some face paint to make her seem more like a robot, Willow pushed her cart with Luz inside to a large castle-like building. "Welcome to Hexside School of Arts and Science," Willow said to Luz as she looked at several other students in similar uniforms to Willow's, but with a variety of colors for the sleeves and leggings. From what she could see, Luz counted nine different colors total as Willow brought Luz into the school. "Make sure to stay as still and quiet as you can," Willow reminded her as she walked inside.</p><p>As she was doing so, a dark-skinned boy in a uniform with light blue sleeves that was a few years younger than her and Luz bumped into her since he was busy reading a magazine. Looking up a bit after he bumped into the girl, he spoke. "Willow, you won't believe some of the crazy stuff in this world. Did you know that there have been sightings of 'monsters' in Gravity Falls, Oregon," the boy said as he showed the page of his magazine, pointing at a shadowy image of what seemed to be a dinosaur in the middle of a lake.</p><p>"I've been there before," Luz whispered. "It's just a quiet town where this place called 'The Mystery Shack' likes to scam tourists." Unfortunately, the boy was able to hear her and looked at Willow's project suspiciously.</p><p>"Okay, Augustus. I'm going to tell you something, but you have to be cool," Willow told the boy as she placed her book in the cart next to Luz. The boy stumbled on his words, but agreed. "Okay. Automaton, rise," Willow said with a gesture of her hand, prompting Luz to start moving.</p><p>Standing up and striking an action pose with one hand by her waist and another held diagonally in front of her chest, Luz then spoke. "<strong>Mecha-Luz, ready for orders</strong>," the girl said in an attempt at a robot voice.</p><p>"Luz, the voice is good enough, but I'm not sure about the posing," Willow told the girl while Augustus gawked at the disguised girl.</p><p>"You smuggled somebody into school," Gus asked, trying to stay calm.</p><p>"She's new in town and wanted to see the place for herself," Willow told the boy. "Augustus Porter here is the head of the school's Unidentified Mysterious Animal Society. UMAS for short. He loves finding out about cryptids and all sorts of stuff unexplained by science."</p><p>"Oh, I know a show you'd love, then," Luz told the boy. "And I know an Augustus back home. We call him Gus."</p><p>"Gus? Nickname? Wow! Nobody's ever called me a nickname before! This is the best day of my life," Gus said excitedly. Soon, a bell rang and he held out a pen. "I've got to get to spelling class. See you guys at lunch," he told the girls before heading off.</p><p>"We should make the tour after class quick," Luz said. "I have to get to the café for the afternoon shift."</p><p>"I'll try, but you have to power down," Willow told her with mock authority, which Luz responded to by making whirring sounds before going into the fetal position.</p><p>Heading into the classroom, Willow sat behind Amity with her cart next to the window. As several other students in 'Automatons 101' shared their work to their diminutive teacher, he criticized them harshly. "Too many hands in unexpected places. Failure," he told a girl with a horned hairband. "The biggest heaps of junk are all of you," he declared in frustration. "If the next Automaton is a failure, everyone gets extra homework for the month," he stated, making the students complain as he cleared his throat. "Alright, the next student to come up is..."</p><p>"Excuse me, sir," said Amity as she stood up with her hand raised. "But I'm ready to present <em>my </em>Automaton," she told the teacher, catching Luz's attention. "Rise," she told the machine, making it slowly twirl like a ballerina as it activated.</p><p>"<em>Well, seems like she's not as bad as I thought if she's trying to make sure the others aren't miserable," </em>Luz thought to herself as she heard Amity.</p><p>The teacher only chuckled in amusement as he spoke. "I always save the best for last, Amity. You'll have to wait your turn," he stated. "How about... Willow Park," he declared.</p><p>Hearing her name being called and the other students calling her 'Halfwit', Willow shyly covered up with her hood again before Luz whispered to her. "Don't listen to them, Willow. We can do this," Luz told her with a thumbs-up, cheering up Willow a little as she walked toward the class with her cart.</p><p>When she got to the front of the room, Willow nervously gave Luz her signal. "Uh, A-Automaton, rise," she said with her voice cracking out of fear.</p><p>Suddenly, Luz opened her eyes and jumped up before striking another pose. This time, she stood like a game character with a hand raised in the air with another on her hip. "<strong>Awaiting command</strong>," Luz robotically said, surprising everyone when they saw Willow's 'project' was very dynamic.</p><p>"Automaton, bow," Willow instructed and Luz bowed mechanically.</p><p>"Very impressive," the teacher said. "But can it speak without a command?"</p><p>Luz thought for a second before improvising. "<strong>I may be an Automaton, but you're my A-Mom-aton</strong>," she said, winning over most of the class as she hugged Willow after the wordplay. The only one that was unaffected by the cute display of platonic affection was Amity, who remembered the previous state of Willow's robot.</p><p>The teacher laughed jovially. "A-Mom-aton! Splendid wordplay," he said as he took a washable marker and wrote on Luz's forehead. "A+! Excellent job, Willow," the teacher congratulated. As everyone else cheered, Amity became rightfully suspicious of the girl and her new project. After class ended, Willow began to wheel Luz out just as the teacher stepped out into view. "Willow, I believe that your work has made you our new Top Student," he declared just as Amity stepped out of the classroom, dropping her book as she heard his declaration.</p><p>"What!?" Taking the badge off of Amity's uniform and giving it to Willow, the teacher simply smiled when Willow thanked him. As he left, Willow was ready to take Luz someplace empty to talk when Amity suddenly appeared in front of her. Willow was confused by how Amity seemed to teleport from the doorway to right behind her while she was talking to the teacher. "I saw your robot earlier. It was a pile of scrap on the ground. How could you have fixed it that fast," Amity confronted the girl with a glare on her face.</p><p>"I, uh, took your pep talk to heart, Amity," Willow said as fixed her hair.</p><p>"I bet you did," Amity said, knowing that Willow wasn't telling the truth. "I've got my eyes on you, Halfwit. That badge is mine," she told her as she walked backward and kept glaring.</p><p>When Amity backed out behind a corner, Willow felt worried. "Uh-oh. I think Amity is onto us," she said to Luz, who was still curled in a ball.</p><p>"Well then, let's get that tour done fast so I can leave for the Owl House," Luz voiced. "Besides, I'm getting a leg cramp."</p><p>"That your café," Willow asked as she started heading to another classroom.</p><p>"It's called the Palisman Café, but Eda has a lot of owls and cats there. It's like an animal café met a witch's house and they had a baby out of wedlock," Luz explained with a joke, making Willow laugh.</p><hr/><p>As Willow gave Luz a quick tour of the school, the Latina gave Eda a text message about what she was doing and explained that she might be late. Eventually, they made it to lunch and met with Gus. "Hey, Luz. Do you like PB&amp;J," the boy asked as he offered half of his sandwich to her.</p><p>"Oh my gosh, I haven't anything to eat all day. Please give me some," Luz answered as she accepted.</p><p>While Luz quickly ate, Willow was worried. "I don't think that was such a good idea," she voiced to her friends. "What if Amity saw that?"</p><p>Immediately after she said that, Amity jumped onto their table with a crazed look in her eyes. "I SAW THAT! Robots don't eat," she exclaimed as she got in Willow's face, then grabbed Luz by her hoodie while she played dead. "I know you can hear me! What are you? <em>Who</em> are you? I WANT ANSWERS," Amity shouted in Luz's face as she shook her around, catching the attention of everyone in the cafeteria. Unfortunately, this also meant the teacher from Automatons 101.</p><p>"Amity Blight!"</p><p>"<em>Uh-oh. I didn't mean for her to get in trouble," </em>Luz thought to herself as she heard the teacher's tone and saw Amity's worried expression, along with the girl's hair slightly frazzled from her outburst.</p><p>"I expected a twinge of jealousy, but this... this is just sad," the teacher said as he looked at Amity, who was becoming desperate to prove Willow was lying and cheating. "Report to Principal Bump's office immediately," the teacher told Amity. The green-haired girl was angry and hesitant, but complied and went to the principal while Luz and Willow looked at each other with concern for her.</p><p>When lunch ended, Willow brought Luz and Gus to the empty Automaton classroom. "Maybe we should get you out of here and to the café," Willow voiced. "Amity's never been sent to the principal's office before, so I feel like she might be out for blood."</p><p>"I didn't mean to get her in trouble," Luz admitted as she got out of the cart and stretched her body. "I just wanted to check this place out and help you, Willow."</p><p>"I'll get the window," Gus said as he walked behind a group of automatons and opened the window nearby, which ended up letting an owl inside and startled Gus.</p><p>Seeing the bird, Luz gasped as she recognized it from the café. "Owlbert? What are you doing here," Luz questioned just before the door slammed open, making everyone look at Amity and an elderly man behind her.</p><p>"Good afternoon, students," the robed man greeted as he looked at Gus and Willow.</p><p>"Principal Bump," Willow said as she addressed the man while Luz faked being lifeless.</p><p>The principal walked over to Luz and inspected her, noticing the metal pieces coming loose and Owlbert on her head. "Automaton, rise," he ordered and Luz stood up, making Owlbert fly back to the window. "Automaton, lie."</p><p>Panicking, Luz began to tell lies to the principal without an attempt at a robot voice. "Viral fame is a worthy pursuit. Your cat will <em>never</em> eat you if it got the chance. Climate change is a-"</p><p>Principal Bump only chuckled and Luz realized he probably knew the truth. "Oh no, Automaton. How strange for it to get the command wrong. I meant, lie down," he said as he pointed to one of the desks. Listening to him, Luz went to the desk and lied on her back. "So lifelike, Miss Park. When Miss Blight told me about your project, I had to come by," Principal Bump told Willow.</p><p>"Um, thank you," Willow responded with her voice cracking.</p><p>"I'm hoping for a <em>closer</em> look," he said as he pulled a tool from his sleeve and a small circular saw started buzzing as he flipped a switch, terrifying Luz as she thought he would cut through more than just metal with it.</p><p>"No! Don't," Willow exclaimed as she got between a fearful Luz and the principal. "I admit it! I cheated to get a passing grade! Luz, you can stop the act."</p><p>Hearing her friend's hurt tone, Luz immediately started removing her makeshift armor and wiped off her face. "Hehehe... Hi there," Luz nervously greeted as Bump turned off the tool and set it aside.</p><p>"I knew that wasn't a robot," Amity said in vindication as she pointed at Willow, who removed the badge she was wearing and stood next to Gus in shame.</p><p>"Yes, I'm human. I met Willow this morning and saw everything between you and her," Luz said to Amity. "She's miserable in this class and you weren't helping her confidence. Not with that fake compassionate pep talk you gave her," Luz stated, causing Amity to look away with her expression hidden from view.</p><p>"It's been like this since I enrolled," Willow said as she felt her anger building. "I can't build robots. I keep failing. You and your friends keep mocking me," she listed before screaming and started kicking at some of the robots nearby. As she did, she shouted in Korean while turning the robots into scrap metal, startling everyone in the room.</p><p>"I swear, she would do well in a martial arts competition," Luz remarked as she caught the severed head of an automaton.</p><p>"Miss Park, I understand that you haven't been doing well in this class. Your grades have been quite an issue," Principal Bump voiced as Willow stopped her violent outburst. When she did, everyone saw that she tore apart her uniform's leggings after kicking the machines. "However, that is school property and you must be punished. The three of you follow me to my office and we'll discuss everything," he told Luz, Amity, and Willow. "Augustus, you return to your final class of the day."</p><p>"Yes, sir," Willow said in a defeated tone as the girls followed him and Gus only nodded.</p><p>As they made their way through the halls, Luz heard the clicking footsteps of high heels coming toward them. "Luz! There you are. I got your message earlier," Eda said as she appeared, then saw the situation. "Hey, Bumpy."</p><p>"Edalyn," Principal Bump responded as he remembered teaching Eda years ago. "Why are you here?"</p><p>"I'm looking after Luz for the summer at my café, so I have to play babysitter," Eda remarked, sounding annoyed at being a parental figure. "So, what's going on?"</p><p>"We're deciding Willow's punishment for passing 'Luz' off as an automaton this morning," Bump explained.</p><p>"It was my idea," Luz explained. "I wanted to see Hexside and Willow wanted to actually pass her class."</p><p>"If you wanted to take a tour of the school, all you needed to do was ask and I would have had Miss Blight escort you around," Bump stated to the Dominican girl as all five entered the office. "Now then, what shall Miss Park's punishment be?"</p><p>"If it's anything like when I kept stealing wallets or picking fights with bullies, you'll probably just lock her a room with a torturous video playing on a loop for an hour," Eda voiced, remembering her days in detention.</p><p>Thinking about what to do, Luz soon saw a plant on Principal Bump's desk. "That thing doesn't look healthy," Luz commented.</p><p>"You're overwatering it," Willow said as she noticed the plant, catching the principal's attention. "Plants like this only need water every few days. Not every single day. It also looks like it needs some better nutrients."</p><p>Bump and Amity listened to Willow, realizing she knew more about plants than she did robotics. "Hmm... I believe I have the solution to both Miss Park's issues in class and her punishment," Bump stated with a smile and he folded his hands together. "She will be tasked with watering all the plants in the school's greenhouse for a week as detention, then she'll be transferred to the Plant Track."</p><p>"What," the teenagers all said with different expressions. Luz's was of excitement, Willow's was surprise, and Amity's was disbelief.</p><p>"Of course, it all depends on how she does," Bump explained. "As for you, Miss Blight, you were only sent here before due to your actions in your little 'investigation'. I think that losing your Top Student badge until you earn it again is punishment enough."</p><p>"Yes, sir," Amity replied, then looked at Luz and Willow with a small glare in her eyes. "And what about her," she questioned as she pointed at the Latina.</p><p>"You leave her alone," Eda spoke up. "She's not even a student here."</p><p>"And as such, she won't be punished," Bump stated. "I'll just have to work things out with campus security to make sure something like this doesn't happen again. Until then, I'll allow Luz to stop by whenever she has time. She was only curious about the school because of our summer programs, after all."</p><p>"Thank you," Luz said with a smile.</p><p>"But not for a while," Eda told her. "You still have work at Palisman to do," she added just as Owlbert flew onto her shoulder.</p><p>"Okay," Luz said slightly dejected.</p><p>Willow saw her new friend's face and immediately spoke up. "I can stop by with Gus after classes today," she said. "I'm still curious about the café and that series you said."</p><p>"I have a lot more than that to show you if you're interested," Luz said excitedly as she made a real friend. Eda only smiled at Luz's happiness while Amity looked away, but had a slight frown on her face.</p><hr/><p>Returning to the Owl House, Luz gave a customer some coffee just as Hooty sounded out with the door opening. "Welcome to the Palisman Café," Luz greeted as she turned to the door. "Willow! Gus! You made it," she exclaimed as she saw her friends arrive. "Is that your new uniform," Luz asked Willow.</p><p>"Yup. I was given it because of my leggings getting ruined earlier," Willow said as she now wore green sleeves and leggings with her Hexside uniform. "I like it a lot better than the magenta color of the Automaton Track."</p><p>"Yeah, green looks cuter on you," Luz agreed.</p><p>"Luz, if you're going to talk with them, at least make sure they pay for something," Eda called out as she called out from the kitchen.</p><p>Luz smiled and shook her head as she immediately knew what to do. "You guys wanna play with the animals," she asked, getting excited nods from Gus and Willow. After they paid for some time in the café's animal area, Luz guided her friends to the room where they saw the cats and owls. While they played with the animals and talked about the shows that Luz wanted to watch with them, Luz's phone sounded off and saw it was her mother wanting to make a video call. "Hola, Mami," Luz greeted as she saw her mother on her phone's screen.</p><p>"Mija, I'm so glad I could call. I haven't had the time until now to contact you," Camilia said. "How's work?"</p><p>"It's pretty fun, actually. A lot different than what I expected from a café," Luz explained as Owlbert flew onto her shoulder.</p><p>"Is that an owl," Camilia questioned.</p><p>Luz only nodded before answering as Willow and Gus saw her call. "Turns out Eda runs an animal café like in some of my stories I read," Luz explained as a cat started climbing onto her hoodie. "I was showing my new friends."</p><p>Hearing that last word surprised Camilia greatly. "¿Puedes decir eso de nuevo? You actually made friends," she asked.</p><p>"Yeah, I just met them today," Luz explained. "Guys, I want you to meet my mom," she told Gus and Willow, prompting them to get in view.</p><p>"Hi there," Willow and Gus greeted with smiles.</p><p>"I want you to meet Willow Park and Gus Porter. Guys, this is my mom, Camilia Noceda," Luz said as she made introductions.</p><p>Seeing Luz actually make friends with other kids filled Camilia with pride. "Cariño, I'm so happy to see you enjoying yourself this summer," she told the girl. "How did you meet each other?"</p><p>As Luz began telling her mom about her day with Gus and Willow getting a few words in, Eda was able to listen in on the conversation from the other side of the door. "Heh. I'm actually proud of the kid myself," she remarked as she poured herself a cup of coffee while King snacked on a scone.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>And with this chapter done, I've given a few tweaks to the introduction of Hexside. I thought that with the lack of magic, it would make more sense for a focus on advanced science. Turn the Abominations into Automatons (AKA robots). The other Tracks in Hexside will be given explanations for what they are, so don't worry about what they could be. As for Amity, I wanted to show a little more of her characterization earlier on. Especially with the encounter with Principal Bump and how I wrote Willow.</strong>
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  <strong>Speaking of her, I hope you like how I made her Korean for this story and how I changed her skillset. I just thought it would work with this non-magical AU. If you still want her to be able to control plants like in canon, don't worry. I'll have some stuff happen for her to show her talent with them in Hexside as well as hobbies/games that Luz introduces her too.</strong>
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  <strong>Next time, we'll see how Luz can help out in the café when a rainy day means a lack of customers. We'll also learn a few things about Eda. And eventually after that, we'll change things up a little in Chapter 5 because of the situation for it.</strong>
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  <strong>WaterDragonMaverick, signing out.</strong>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Rainy Night Reveals</h2></a>
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    <p>
  <strong>Hey, everyone. WaterDragonMaverick here with the next chapter of "Palisman Café". When we last left off, Luz met Willow and was shown Hexside a little. With things happening slightly different in that chapter than in canon, we'll have some new interactions later on.</strong>
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  <strong>Now, we'll move into this fic's adaptation of "The Intruder". Because of that, we'll learn why Eda owes Luz's mother and agreed to give Luz a job. We'll also get to see what Luz does with her glyphs as she helps out in the café on a slow day.</strong>
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  <strong>Shine on, you crazy diamond!</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>The Owl House is owned by Disney and was created by Dana Terrace</strong>
</p><hr/><p>It had been a week since Luz first arrived at Bonesborough and started work at the Palisman Café. As such, her new friends decided to celebrate her making it through the week and Eda would be paying her soon. "You'll love this place, Luz. I come here all the time," Willow said as she brought the Latina to a restaurant.</p><p>Following Willow, Luz was surprised that a town like Bonesborough had an Asian barbeque place. "This looks so cool," Luz remarked as she took a seat with Gus and Willow.</p><p>"The Korean barbeque is delicious, but there are all sorts of choices," Willow explained before a waiter took their order. After Willow ordered what Luz heard as 'the usual' and some drink flavors, the Korean girl spoke to her again. "So how do you like Bonesborough so far?"</p><p>"When I first got here, I thought it came straight out of my Azura book," Luz explained as she pulled the second Azura novel out of her bag. "Especially when I had to chase Owlbert to get to the Owl House," she added.</p><p>"That almost sounds like the beginning of a magic adventure cartoon," Gus remarked as a waiter brought drinks and meat for the trio to grill as they liked.</p><p>"You'll love how this tastes, Luz" Willow said as she started grilling. "I love coming here for special occasions." After waiting for enough time, Willow gave the grilled cuts of meat to her friends before taking some for herself. "Dig in," she said before enjoying her meal.</p><p>Luz and Gus did the same, but Luz moaned happily as she enjoyed the beef. "Oh, sweet joy, this is amazing," Luz exclaimed before she had some more.</p><p>"Have you had boba before," Gus asked as he sipped his drink.</p><p>"Gus and I usually get cherry and orange for ourselves, we thought you could try mango and passion fruit," Willow explained before she enjoyed some kimchi and a few mandu dumplings.</p><p>Taking a sip of the drink, Luz enjoyed the flavor and even chewing on the tapioca balls. "This is pretty good. I wonder if Eda would like it?"</p><p>"One way to find out," Willow said with a smile before the three enjoyed the rest of their meal and discussed the shows Luz introduced them to.</p><hr/><p>Walking back to the Owl House with another bubble tea in hand for Eda, Luz enjoyed herself just as it began to rain. "Ah, I love feeling the first few drops of rain in my hair," she said to herself as everyone else she passed by went to find shelter. Getting to the woods and entering the café, Luz was greeted by Hooty before finding Eda resting on the couch in her sleepwear. "I'm back. And I brought a drink," Luz told the café owner as she swirled the sealed cup around.</p><p>"Just put it down and I'll have some of whatever it is later," Eda told Luz. "It's always slow when it rains because everyone in town wants to stay indoors. No way we'll be getting anybody today, so we'll close up until it stops."</p><p>Luz understood as she put the fruity drink on a table close to Eda, then went to find King. When she did, she quietly chuckled to herself and pulled out her phone to record what she saw. "And here, we have the most fearsome creature in the world, the King of Demons. Facing his natural enemy, the ducky sock," Luz narrated like a nature documentary host as King was ripping apart a duck-patterned sock.</p><p>"Where are you <em>now</em>, ducky sock," King exclaimed victoriously as he gloated over the destroyed article of clothing.</p><p>"To understand the behavior of this creature more, an associate of mine put a translation collar around his neck so that we may hear his thoughts and emotions, like a real demon capable of speech," Luz continued with her narration.</p><p>"Will you stop recording me!? I'm not a simple pet," King exclaimed. "I am a grim trickster of the twilight, a creature of sulfur and bone."</p><p>"And cute little paws," Luz added as she stopped narrating, but focused the camera on King's feet.</p><p>King only sighed before speaking again. "And cute little paws. True."</p><p>"The internet will love you," Luz says as she kept recording King, but the sound of an owl hooting caught her attention and she turned to find Owlbert perched on a table. "Oh, they'd love you too, you adorably feathery baseball," she told Owlbert while recording him. Scratching his chin, the bird warbled happily at Luz giving him affection. "You know, I bet we could make some improvements to the place since we don't have anything else to deal with."</p><p>"Like what," King asked as Luz saved her video footage and turned her phone off.</p><p>"I mean, this place already looks like a witch's house, so why not add onto that theme? Make it look more magical than it is," Luz elaborated.</p><p>"Oh really," asked Eda with a smirk as she got up from the couch and grabbed the drink Luz gave her. "And just what did you have in mind? Fixing up the lights," Eda joked as she messed with the dimmer switch next to her, adjusting the brightness of the lights.</p><p>Luz thought about it for a second before she figured out an idea. "How about I draw up a few things and we can hang them around the place," she suggested.</p><p>"You do what you want, kid. I'm the judge. If it's decent, I'll keep it. If not, we'll just say the ducky sock will have company where it is," Eda remarked before poking her straw through the sealed lid of her drink and taking a sip. "Wow, this stuff's pretty good. Where'd you get it?"</p><p>Luz's brainstorming was interrupted by Eda's comment about the boba drink, so she answered. "Oh, Willow took me to this place earlier because I've been in town for a week and you'll be paying me soon," Luz explained. "I bet if we sold bubble tea here, we could get some more variety with the customers."</p><p>Eda thought it over as she enjoyed the gold-colored drink. "Not a bad idea, Luz. I'll need to look around for the supplies to do so, but that could work if we sell it for a cheaper price than the other guys," the Owl Lady stated before she coughed a bit. "I'll just let you think of something while I enjoy this 'elixir' upstairs," she told the girl before heading to the second floor.</p><p>"We could even change up the menu item names," Luz said to Eda while she was still within earshot.</p><p>"Write them down and I'll think about it," Eda said before she closed her bedroom door.</p><hr/><p>Thinking over everything she could do while the raindrops fell outside, Luz began fiddling with a pen with a plastic light-up gem on the top. "King, what do you think would be better? Making a mascot for the café or having music in different languages playing," she asked the dog, knowing he was listening and could give some feedback.</p><p>"Oh please, there are enough animals here already. We don't need a mascot. Besides, I'm sure Owlbert is Eda's mascot," he answered.</p><p>"Why is this place called 'Palisman Café' anyway," Luz questioned. "And why does Eda owe my mom? It's her job to help people as a nurse."</p><p>"I don't really know," King answered as he scratched his ear with his foot. "Every morning, I see Eda sneaking drinks of something before she wakes up fully. And I don't think it's coffee."</p><p>"Mom <em>did</em> say Eda had a condition," Luz added as she remembered the start of summer. "Think it's related?"</p><p>"Let's go ask her," King said he started going up the stairs with Luz following.</p><p>When they found Eda's room, they opened the door to see her sleeping in a messy bed that reminded them more of a nest than anything. "No wonder she prefers sleeping on the couch," Luz remarked as she saw how lumpy the mattress was. "How can she sleep on this now?"</p><p>"Not well," Eda said as she revealed she was still awake. "Is this about those ideas you have," she questioned before coughing loudly. When she finished, Luz was worried when she saw Eda's dread-filled expression. "Oh no, where is it?!" Luz and King watched as Eda frantically dug through the nightstand next to her nest of a bed, searching for something as she held her head in pain. "If you're still here, check the closet for something prescribed to me," Eda told the two.</p><p>King and Luz immediately did so as Eda groaned in pain. Looking through the closet, Luz found a medicine bottle with Eda's name and saw it was recently prescribed. "Eda, here," she said as she tossed her the bottle.</p><p>When it landed on her bed, Eda immediately removed the cap and took some pills, swallowing them whole like an owl catching a mouse before finishing the drink Luz gave her earlier. "Thanks, Luz. I needed that," Eda told the girl as she put the lid back on her medicine bottle and set it on her nightstand.</p><p>"Eda, what's going on," King asked.</p><p>"Yeah, there are still a few questions that you haven't answered for me," Luz added. "I'm not leaving until I get them."</p><p>Eda sighed as she sat on her bed. "Okay, I'll tell you what's happening with me," she said. "The truth is that I'm sick. I have this disease that essentially makes me age quicker, as you can tell by my wrinkles, sleepiness, and hair."</p><p>"You <em>are </em>surprisingly foxy for your age," Luz commented, which Eda responded with a smirk and a finger gun gesture.</p><p>"It also gives me severe migraines, dry skin that comes off like feathers, and a bad cough that can lead to me not breathing anymore if I don't take my medicine. Nobody likes being sick, but if you take the right steps, it's manageable," Eda continued. "There are some people trying to help me, so I go to this research facility in town to get checkups. I also managed to get King's collar from there because I thought it was neat," she added with a chuckle at the last thing she mentioned.</p><p>"It's almost like you're cursed," Luz said in comparison to one of her fantasy stories.</p><p>"Yeah, a little," Eda remarked. "But still, this isn't exactly a classic case of Werner's syndrome, even if some symptoms are similar. When I was having an attack before this summer, your mom was able to give me my medication. Because of my condition being researched more, I couldn't just stay in the hospital. So, I made a deal with your mom and owed her one after she helped me," she explained, giving Luz the answer that she was looking for.</p><p>"I can't believe it," Luz said as she listened to the woman. "You're doing so much like this. Are you okay?"</p><p>"I've had this thing for longer than you've been alive. There's nothing for you to worry about. It's all under control," Eda told Luz. "I just have to keep an eye on my symptoms and make sure my medicine is with me. And if I do all that, then I'm fine."</p><p>"Alright," Luz said as Eda explained her condition. "So, since you're up, should we talk over the ideas I have for the café?"</p><p>Eda rolled her eyes and sighed, but smiled at the girl. "If I don't have a choice," Eda said as the three started heading downstairs.</p><hr/><p>As the three lounged around the café, Luz started looking through a sketchbook she brought with her. Normally she used it to draw up fanart for her favorite books and shows, but she was currently sketching out random designs she thought could work for the ideas she had. "Maybe if we go with a simple thing," she muttered to herself.</p><p>"Kid, if you really want to make something for me to stick around the place, just go with the first thing you can think of," Eda stated. "It could be a firefly for all I care."</p><p>Thinking about it, Luz closed her eyes and began to picture something in her head. Letting her pencil wander, she soon made a circle with a triangle in the middle with a smaller triangle and a circle on top, which also had a line running down the middle and two smaller diagonal lines inside the large triangle. When she stopped, the trio looked at the design and King was the first to give an opinion. "That looks nice," he said.</p><p>"Yeah, it is pretty nice," Eda remarked. "Maybe we can use some stars and put it on the ceiling like a constellation."</p><p>Luz smiled as she started taking pride in the design, feeling like it could be a signature of hers and could be added into her future fanarts. "Yeah, I think this could add a little light into this place," Luz said as she started to think of other ideas and began sketching Owlbert flying with another glyph behind him.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>Okay, done with this chapter. Admittedly, it was a little frustrating to figure out how Luz could get her glyphs to start, but she'll figure out new ones when she gets inspiration. However, we now have an explanation for Eda's owed favor to Luz's mom and how I adapted the curse. How it gets handled later like in canon will be something I have planned. So, don't worry about that.</strong>
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  <strong>Next time, we'll have the adaptation of Covention. Another magic-heavy episode, but I'll give a good way of having the duels happen. I just need to work on the conflict and how Lilith is introduced. At least in that chapter, I can elaborate on what the Coven Tracks at Hexside have become. Not only that, but some cute moments with Luz and her friends that I have planned for building on what I want for the café.</strong>
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  <strong>Until next time, WaterDragonMaverick signing out.</strong>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Luz or Win, It Doesn't Matter</h2></a>
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    <p>
  <strong>Hello, readers! WaterDragonMaverick here with the next chapter of my Owl House fic, Palisman Café. Last time was more of a quiet chapter, so I'm going to give this one as much detail as I did with Chapter 3. Especially since Amity is going to be in this chapter. What will happen is something that can work with both canon AND this AU, so get ready to see what it is.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>The Owl House is owned by Disney and was created by Dana Terrace</strong>
</p><hr/><p>It was a quiet Saturday, so the members of the Owl House were out of the café and worked at a stand Eda set up in the Bonesborough marketplace to sell repaired merchandise to whoever she could give it to. While the Owl Lady dusted off the table and some items, Luz was reading one of her Azura books aloud to King, who was sitting on the table. "Emboldened by the dishonor Hecate had shown, Azura lifted her staff to the cotton-candy skies and shouted, 'I challenge you to a Witch's Duel'," Luz said. "And look, I drew a flipbook," she added as she showed King and made sound effects.</p><p>"Ha! I can draw better than that," King declared before looking at himself awkwardly. "Well, uh... You know. If I, uh, had thumbs."</p><p>Eda only groaned as she listened. "Please stop reading that. Its flowery language is an insult to the fantasy genre and driving away all our serious customers," she said as she waved her feather duster around.</p><p>After hearing what Eda said, Luz looked around. "Um, Eda? What customers," Luz questioned as she looked at their surroundings and saw that nothing else was there but the stone pavement and walls. "I don't even see any other stands around. What's going on here?"</p><p>"This is a bad omen," Eda voiced. "There must be something horrible happening today."</p><p>Before any of them could make any guesses, Luz heard a familiar voice call out to her. "Luz! You won't believe what's happening today," Gus Porter called out as he and Willow Park came running up to the stand.</p><p>"Hexside's annual job fair and advanced science convention is today. Students of the school and their families get to see all the types of career opportunities they could have and see all the amazing new technology that graduates of the school have worked on," Willow explained as she held up a poster. "There's even a mystery guest this year," she added.</p><p>"Cool! Job fair! Eda, can we go," Luz asked as she leaned against the woman.</p><p>"Absolutely not," Eda immediately replied, making Luz whine as she slumped down onto the ground. "Sure, it looks fun to see everything they have to offer, but those jobs usually mean you're working for some big corporation that's part of a crooked system," she explained. "I have my own businesses. Why would I need to go? Besides, I haven't been to that thing since we were girls."</p><p>"We?"</p><p>"Uh, duh, I mean," Eda stammered after Luz asked about what she meant.</p><p>"Who's we? Do you have a mysterious past? Now we <em>gotta </em>go," Luz declared as she stood up. "And before you say anything, I <em>will </em>have King follow you as he reads from my book if you refuse."</p><p>Eda only stared at Luz for a moment before speaking. "You have moxie, Luz. Fine, we'll go. Just help me pack the stand up and we'll go after dropping it off at the café," she stated to everyone, which made the three friends smile.</p><hr/><p>After putting everything away at the café and making sure the animals were taken care of, Luz and her friends were excited to be at the town's convention center while Eda only groaned. Entering the building, Luz gasped in awe as she saw all the booths and nine large banners with the colors of the Hexside uniforms. "Was I even alive before now? This looks incredible," the Dominican girl voiced.</p><p>"Those banners represent Hexside's main nine classes. Because the school teaches from kindergarten to 12th grade, students who do well in their assigned classes can be hired in any career related to those studies," Gus explained to Luz. "But there's plenty of jobs to choose from for internships while in classes to build experience."</p><p>"You already know about the Automaton Track and the Botany Track from your first visit, but we can explain the others," Willow said as the group started walking and she pointed at the different banners. "We have the Music Track in red that focuses on the music industry, Healing Track in blue which is healthcare, Beast Keeping in orange for animal studies, Concoction Track in yellow for chemistry and cooking, Broadcasting in purple for information media, and you can see Construction in brown right over there," she listed before pointing out a demonstration by a huge and burly man in a construction worker's uniform.</p><p>Luz was amazed at the strong-looking shed that was set up next to the man, who was showing just how much punishment the structure could take. "Yowza-Wowza," Luz said in wonder as she watched a small gathering applaud the work.</p><p>"Yowza-Wowza," repeated somebody else that got Luz's attention. Turning to see a pair of teenagers in Hexside uniforms with the same color as Gus', she saw one of them was doing a perfect imitation of her voice. "This is my first time being here, but it's all amazing!"</p><p>"I see you're drawn in by the allure of the Entertainment Track. We like to work with a little showmanship," Gus explained as he reached into his pocket and threw a smoke bomb on the ground, distracting everyone as he suddenly appeared with his upperclassmen and more people applauded.</p><p>"These all sound great," Luz said as she turned to Eda. "Did you just not want somebody bossing you around?"</p><p>"Exactly. I'm my own boss and that's what I've always wanted," Eda stated before she marched on with a prideful expression.</p><p>Exploring more of the convention, Luz and the others soon found a number of people heading for a certain area. "Wow. These guys seem popular," Luz remarked as she took note of the gold-colored logo on the top of the doorway.</p><p>Seeing it for themselves, Willow and Gus gasped in amazement. "It's Imperial Industries! They're one of the best places anybody in Hexside could join because they have so many different businesses," Gus explained. "You think they'll sign my forehead!?"</p><p>"Let's find out," Willow said with as much excitement as Gus before the two ran inside.</p><p>"You coming, Eda," asked Luz.</p><p>"No way. Out of all the big companies here, they're the worst," Eda stated. "I think I'll just wait out here and grab some stuff."</p><p>"It wouldn't hurt to see what they're showing off," Luz stated. "It might help the café if you know what they're doing. We could bring in more customers by talking in the crowd."</p><p>"Well, I did bring business cards with me," Eda said as she pulled a card for the Palisman Café out of her hair. "Maybe I can slip them into people's pockets when they aren't looking."</p><p>"That's the spirit," Luz exclaimed. "...I think."</p><hr/><p>As Luz and Eda made their way into the main theater, they found some seats and watched as the lights dimmed and a spotlight shined onto the center stage, revealing Principal Bump appearing from a trapdoor and a swirl of mist from a fog machine. "Hello, Bonesborough," he greeted as the audience began cheering. "Students ask me all the time about the height of achievement in Hexside. It's being selected to join the best of the best. And there's no better example of the employees of Imperial Industries," he stated as the wall behind him soon showed a projection of several scientists working on various robots, medicine, and even entertainment systems.</p><p>"Whoa," Luz said as she watched the video presentation. Looking around to see the crowd's reactions, she saw Gus and Willow to her left. They excitedly pointed at Gus' forehead, which had 'Imperial Industries' written on it in washable marker. Luz could see her 12-year old friend was having the time of his life before paying attention to Principal Bump again.</p><p>"Imperial Industries has many opportunities in various fields of work. Robotics, entertainment, medicinal studies, and many others. All to usher in a new world of scientific achievement," he stated. "But only the best may ascend to these ranks. And one day, that could be one of you," he added, pointing at somebody under Luz, who she soon saw as Amity Blight. Luz couldn't see her face, but she could tell Amity was excited from her body language and what she thought was a squeal of joy.</p><p>"<em>She looks really excited about this</em>," Luz thought to herself as the video presentation ended.</p><p>"Now then, to announce the latest technology created by Imperial Industries, it's my pleasure to introduce this year's mystery guest," Bump stated. "I'm happy to introduce, Lilith Clawthorne!" Eda gasped as she heard the name and watched as a flashy laser display create a white raven flying around the theater before perching on the center stage. As it did, a woman with black hair, a black dress, and turquoise eyes soon took its place.</p><p>Everyone applauded the guest's appearance, but Luz saw Eda was stunned and soon realized. "Wait, did he say 'Clawthorne'? Do you know her," Luz asked her boss.</p><p>"Yeah, she's my sister," Eda explained.</p><p>"Thank you, all," Lilith said as she spoke to everyone in the audience as the lights returned to normal. "It wasn't easy for me to rise to the top. I also started from humble beginnings. But now, I am the head researcher for several departments of Imperial Industries. To all you aspiring students, I only have these words to say. Be more and learn what you can to help better yourself and others!" Everyone cheered at Lilith's words before she gestured for everyone to quiet down. "Now, we at Imperial Industries are happy to announce the newest in entertainment technology," she declared as several people began moving a large contraption into the center of the theater floor, which reminded Luz of a pair of giant arcade cabinets put back-to-back. "Behold, 'Dimensional Duel'! This game uses special virtual reality simulation to provide a fully immersive entertainment and combat experience. Observe," Lilith said as two Imperial employees stood on the platforms of the cabinet and the screen came to life with a projection of the gameplay showing on the wall behind Lilith.</p><p>Luz watched in wonder as the demonstrators selected through various characters from fiction that she recognized. "I wonder how much they blew on this," Eda remarked as Luz watched the players battle each other with full-body motion controls. Seeing everything in action was breathtaking and Luz could only imagine what it was like to actually play that game.</p><p>When the demo ended, Lilith spoke again. "Now, we'll be allowing anybody who is interested to play Dimensional Duel to help with testing. Sign-ups will be outside the theater for the next hour. I hope that we get plenty of feedback," Lilith said as the presentation ended.</p><p>As everyone left the theater, Luz saw Eda starting to leave without her. "Eda, where are you going?"</p><p>"I'm gonna go home and wash the con funk off my skin," Eda stated. "Maybe steal some swag on my way out."</p><p>"Okay, I'm just going to check things out a little more," Luz said as Eda started leaving. "I wonder if I could play that game for myself," Luz muttered as she read a pamphlet before bumping into Amity Blight.</p><p>"Watch where you're- Oh, it's you. Willow's fake automaton," Amity said as she turned to snap at whoever bumped into her, but recognized Luz.</p><p>"Oh hey, Amity," Luz greeted nervously. "Sorry about everything last week at Hexside. I don't think I really introduced myself. I'm Luz Noceda," she said as she held out her hand.</p><p>"I don't care," Amity scoffed as she slapped Luz's hand away. "You're the one that got me in trouble with Principal Bump and I <em>never </em>get in trouble," she stated as she walked away.</p><p>"Well, to be fair, you were kind of okay with him trying to cut me apart before Willow owned up," Luz retorted as she walked after the girl.</p><p>"You shouldn't even be here," Amity angrily replied as she quickly turned around. "This convention is for Hexside students only."</p><p>"Well, Bump said that I could check out Hexside when I could," Luz reminded.</p><p>"You still aren't an actual student," Amity stated.</p><p>"I could be a student," Luz exclaimed. "I have experience with animals and cooking, so I can be part of a few classes."</p><p>Amity just gave Luz a blank stare before noticing something behind her. "Would that be one of the animals you have experience with," she questioned as Luz turned to see King running through the convention hall with a scarf around his neck and a cupcake balanced on his nose.</p><p>"Hehehehe! Offerings for the king of demons," King gloated before seeing Luz. "Hey, Luz! Check out what I got when you went around the place without me," he exclaimed before he ended up tripping on his scarf.</p><p>As Luz went to see if the dog was okay, King was more worried about his treat that fell on the ground. Before Luz could grab King's cupcake for him, Amity callously stepped on it and made him gasp in shock. "Oops. That was an accident," she said in the same falsely caring tone Luz heard when she first saw her.</p><p>"Why are you being so mean, Amity," Luz questioned as she glared at the girl.</p><p>"Because you and your pet don't belong here. Not when you obviously don't put in the effort for anything," the green-haired girl replied.</p><p>"I am not a pet," King exclaimed as he scratched himself with his back leg before Luz hugged him.</p><p>"He's a very good boy and an adorable little prince!"</p><p>"King. I'm King," the dog reminded.</p><p>"I'll tell you what, Amity, it's one thing to say I don't belong somewhere. I got that enough at school from all those jerks I went to class with," Luz stated as she stood up to confront the girl. "But it's another to bully the first friends I've actually made this summer."</p><p>"And just what is your point," Amity questioned as she checked her black nail polish.</p><p>"My point is this, Amity Blight. I challenge you to Dimensional Duel," Luz loudly declared, surprising everyone nearby.</p><p>Amity only gave a blank look as she stepped forward and got in Luz's face. "I accept," she said as she gave a determined grin. "Let's set the terms for this match, shall we?"</p><p>"One, if I win, you apologize to King for squashing his cupcake," Luz stated as King ate the ruined dessert off the floor without a care, but his collar still made sobbing sounds. "And two, you have to be nicer to people."</p><p>"Fine by me," Amity replied. "But <em>when I</em> win, you have to stay away from Hexside forever," she said as her terms.</p><p>"That's not exactly fair," Luz remarked. "I mean, if we were both learning magic and your part of the wager was me not learning magic, the only way to make it fair is if you help teach me if I won."</p><p>"True, but we're not magic," Amity agreed.</p><p>"Let's shake on it," Luz declared as she held out her hand.</p><p>Amity did so, making sure to have a tight grip on Luz's hand before letting go and the two made their way to the sign-up sheet for testing Dimensional Duel. "We'll be facing off in the theater in one hour," Amity stated as she wrote her name. "Let's see if you actually put effort into anything," she said as she walked away. Luz only glared at the back of Amity's head before she grabbed a pamphlet for the game to study up on the available characters to play as, then went to find if Eda was still in the convention center to explain the situation.</p><hr/><p>Eda was walking around the convention, browsing through the various booths and swiping samples as she passed. However, she wasn't looking for the exit like she told Luz. When she leaned against a pillar and ate a cupcake, she heard somebody speak to her. "Edalyn? Is that you?" Turning to see Lilith signing autographs for Hexside students, Eda downed the rest of her snack as Lilith approached her. "It's been so long since I've seen you last," she said. "Are you still running that birdcage of a café you turned your house into?"</p><p>"Oh, Lily. You know that I can actually spare the time to do things I want," Eda responded to her sister before kneeling down to talk with the students. "You know, when we were kids, Lily was so excited to see Imperial Industries that she peed a little."</p><p>The children laughed at what Eda told them while Lilith had a small embarrassed blush on her face when her sister brought up an old memory. "Th-that's all for today," she told the students and guided them off. "Uncalled for, sister," she told Eda with an irritated look on her face.</p><p>"Oh please, I still remember when I started a food fight to get back your lunch money in high school. You laughed at me when I ended up getting mashed potatoes up my nose," Eda retorted.</p><p>"Why are you even here if you have that café?"</p><p>"Eh, I thought I could advertise it," Eda said.</p><p>"And here I thought you were going to join Imperial Industries with me," Lilith remarked.</p><p>"Sorry, sister. That's not going to happen," Eda told Lilith before blowing a raspberry at her.</p><p>"I will not fall for such childish antics," Lilith said as she crossed her arms and turned to the side, only to start pulling down her eyelids and sticking her tongue out at Eda.</p><p>"Am I interrupting something, Eda," asked a voice, which made the sisters turn to see Luz looking at them.</p><p>Seeing the new arrival, Lilith composed herself and cleared her throat. "Do you know this girl, Edalyn?"</p><p>"Oh yeah, this is Luz. She works at Palisman," Eda stated. "I don't actually slum it in the woods with only animals for company like a hermit, you know."</p><p>"Eda, I know you wanted to leave, but I'm facing Amity in that new game your sister showed and I wanted you to cheer me on," Luz explained.</p><p>Hearing this, Lilith chuckled. "So, your employee has challenged my best protégé to a match? I think it would be in our best interests to watch," the raven-haired Clawthorne remarked.</p><p>"Only if we make a little wager," Eda said. "Loser has to clean up the winner's place of business."</p><p>"And why would I agree to that," Lilith questioned as she looked at her sister.</p><p>"Because I'm sure it would be satisfying to see me cleaning up your office like how I tricked you into cleaning my room before," Eda snickered.</p><p>Lilith growled in annoyance at the memory before calming down and agreeing. "Very well. I'll set up the match for the proper time," Lilith stated as she started heading for the theater. "I hope that the girl can handle herself against the intern who helped test the game in development."</p><p>When Lilith left, Luz gulped as she heard the last detail. "Oh great, Amity probably knows how to play the game better than me. I'm toast."</p><p>"Not yet, you aren't," Eda said. "I'm sure that a prissy little overachiever like her and Lilith will focus on one thing. Tunnel vision is pretty bad when in a serious situation," she explained as she taught Luz. "It's always best to take in your surroundings and use what you have. Be resourceful." Luz nodded as she understood what Eda was talking about, remembering her favorite stories and games. "Come on, let's make sure you're ready to play."</p><hr/><p>The theater began to draw a crowd as Luz and Amity stood ready with Eda and Lilith behind them as witnesses and supporters. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a special match for you today. This demonstration will demonstrate just what we're looking for in our programming and testing departments," Lilith stated. "I'm pleased to introduce, Amity Blight."</p><p>The audience cheered as they knew of Amity's reputation as Hexside's best student and a potential hire for Imperial Industries. "Don't let them psych you out, Luz," Eda said. "Deep breathes." Luz listened and did just that to calm down.</p><p>"She will be facing Luz Noceda in a three-round match of Dimensional Duel," Lilith explained as Eda stepped aside to show Luz to the crowd. When they saw her, Willow and Gus were worried about their friend. "To make things fair and show the capabilities of the game, characters and series will be locked after each round. We can't have somebody using the same character each time to demonstrate how diverse this game is."</p><p>"Okay, at least there's that," Luz said to herself.</p><p>"Players, select your characters," Lilith told the two girls stepped onto the platforms and put on special goggles to begin playing.</p><p>Looking through various characters, Luz began to think. "<em>Okay, if Eda wants me to take in my surroundings, then I should find a character that's known for traveling around the place</em>," she thought to herself as she searched for an option. Selecting Batgirl, Luz was ready to start the first round as Amity selected her character. "Weiss Schnee from RWBY?"</p><p>"I happen to appreciate her skill," Amity stated, but Luz could feel like she liked the character for more than that.</p><p>"With the characters selected, we'll choose an appropriate location for them to showcase their abilities," Lilith announced as a stage select screen started to randomly choose a location. When one was decided, Luz watched as an entire urban environment materialized around her. "Now, begin the match," Lilith told the girls.</p><p>Looking around the area and at her character, Luz saw a grappling hook on her belt and tested it out. "Let's see if this works," she whispered to herself as she took aim and fired onto a lamp post. With the cable retracting quickly, Luz was pulled up and launched into the air like a slingshot. "Whoa! This is so cool!"</p><p>"Only the best from Imperial Industries," Lilith remarked while Eda rolled her eyes.</p><p>Landing and running around the rooftops, Luz was amazed at the details she saw in the game before she noticed a white emblem appear in front of her. It began to spin and a large knight with mist coming off the gaps in the armor appeared in front of her. "Time for you to know your place," Amity declared as Luz turned to see her as Weiss Schnee from RWBY Volume 5.</p><p>"Uh-oh," Luz said to herself before dodging the knight's sword and was left open to a thrust from Amity. "Ah! Run away," Luz exclaimed as she used her grappling hook and made it to a higher building. When she did, she threw what she could at Amity and her summon. Unfortunately, everything was blocked by Amity's knight and it threw her toward Luz.</p><p>When she got close, Amity created several glyphs around Luz and jumped off each, slashing and stabbing at her character while everyone watched Luz take heavy damage from a chain of combo attacks. "I'm not done yet," Amity told Luz as the rapier she held soon ignited and she swung the sword to unleash a wave of fire. Defending herself with her cape, Luz was able to minimize the damage before tossing a smoke bomb at Amity's feet. With her vision obscured, Amity growled as she was soon knocked onto the ground and heard Luz's character running away. "I thought we were dueling," Amity rhetorically asked as she unleashed a gust of wind to blow the smoke away, then saw Luz heading for a water tower. "Gotcha," she said to herself as she summoned a large wasp that shot its stinger at the water tower like a harpoon, puncturing a hole in the structure and causing the water to spill. Acting on that, Amity froze the water and trapped Luz with ease. "What an easy win," Amity remarked as she thrust her sword into the ice, defeating Luz in the first round.</p><p>"And Amity Blight wins Round 1," Lilith announced.</p><p>As Luz removed the goggles for a moment, she started to think over what happened. "<em>Okay, if all of that was in there, then that means I should go with a character I know best. That means I need magic</em>," Luz thought to herself.</p><p>"Is that all you could give? I hardly broke a sweat," Amity boasted. "I think I'll finish this quickly," she said as she chose her next character. "Sorcerer Supreme for a supreme victory," Amity declared as she selected Doctor Strange. "You have no hope of winning against me."</p><p>"Well, I'm just getting started," Luz retorted as she put her goggles back on and went to the character selection. "If you're going with him, then I'll go with a character all about hope and magic," Luz said as she selected a character in a black coat and ruby-like armor with a matching helmet that Amity didn't see before. "Kamen Rider Wizard!"</p><p>In the audience, Willow and Gus looked at each other as they knew the character was one of Luz's favorites, so she likely had a chance against Amity. "What's happening," King asked as he sat down on Willow's lap.</p><p>"Who is that character? I didn't see them in the selection," Amity questioned.</p><p>"You just need to know where to look," Luz said as she spun around and held up a hand like she was showing off a ring.</p><p>"If both players are ready, we'll begin the second round," Lilith declared.</p><p>Soon, the stage was a beach with both characters in sight of each other. "You don't stand a chance against my character," Amity said as she started to unleash a burst of flames at Luz.</p><p>Luz was calm and simply put a hand in front of her belt. "Connect, Please," Luz said as she created a magic circle in front of her to defend against the fire, sending it back at Amity when a second circle appeared behind her. Using the same portal again, Luz reached inside and pulled out a gun before she fired it at Amity. The bullets curved around an attempt to defend herself and Amity was blasted back into the water. "Let's try something new," she said before putting the weapon away and replaced the ring on her character. Flipping a switch on her belt twice, she then put her hand in front of it before another spell was used. "Big, Please," Luz said before she stuck her hand through a magic circle and proceeded to slap Amity's character into the water.</p><p>"Hahaha! That's my girl," Eda cheered as she watched Luz actually do well in the second round.</p><p>As she levitated out of the water, Amity became mad and started using spells against Luz, but the girl was able to have her character dodge them all with acrobatic animation while she simply bobbed and weaved. After dodging the attacks, Luz replaced her ring once again and used the new one. "Copy, Please," she said and a duplicate of herself appeared. Flipping the switch on her belt again with the copy doing the same thing, the two characters became four, then eight. As each surrounded Amity, Luz threw a fiery kick and all eight copies did the same, inflicting heavy damage to Amity's character.</p><p>"Enough," Amity shouted as she unleashed a barrage of attacks that decimated the copies and left only one. "Take this seriously," Amity said angrily as through the second round, Luz had been just doing what she felt like instead of actually fighting her.</p><p>"Hey, the crowd wants a performance," Luz responded. "But if you want me to get real, then I'll do just that," she said as she replaced the ruby ring on her other hand with a diamond one and flipped her belt's switch once. "Infinity, Please," Luz called out as a dragon made of diamond emerged from her ring and belt, circling around her as her character transformed and music blared from the game. Luz's character soon had diamond armor on and she smirked as she held out her hand. "Come, Dragon!" With a simple order, the same diamond dragon appeared again before it transformed into a mix of an axe and a sword, which Luz used to slash at Amity's character and deal even more damage. "Time for the finale," she said before turning the sword around to use as an axe, then touched the hand icon on the end. Spinning and twirling her weapon with a flourish, the axe began to grow in size and Amity was shocked at what she saw. Jumping into the air, Luz slammed the axe blade down on Amity's character and it was defeated with a huge explosion signaling the end of the second round.</p><p>"Ha! In your face, Lily," Eda exclaimed as she pointed at her sister.</p><p>Amity and Luz removed their goggles to look at each other before the final round started. "H-how did you," Amity questioned as she never saw anything like that before.</p><p>"If you want to call off the bet, I could show you how I know about that," Luz offered.</p><p>Amity was silent, but only gave a slightly hesitant glare before putting the goggles back on. "We're tied at one victory each. Choose your final character so we can see who actually belongs at Hexside," Amity said as she searched for her last character. "This time, I won't be overconfident."</p><p>Luz sighed as her attempt at stopping the bet was rejected. Cycling through characters, Luz soon found one that made her gasp in excitement. "No way! She's in here," Luz exclaimed as she saw Azura the Good Witch and immediately selected her. At the same time, Amity chose Hecate from the same series. "This is a dream come true," Luz said as she was fangirling over playing as Azura.</p><p>"Will you pay attention," Amity shouted. "This is what I don't like about you! You don't know how hard I work to do things, seeing everything as a game!"</p><p>"But... this <em>is </em>a game," Luz responded. "Haven't you ever played for fun?"</p><p>Hearing Luz's words, Amity was in stunned silence as she couldn't think of an answer, but soon focused on the match and the two witch characters were facing off against each other in a dense forest. As they went to battle, the two were evenly matched as they launched spell after spell at each other, defending and dodging. Remembering the capabilities that Azura had in the books, Luz countered Amity's next fire blast by summoning a pillar of stone, which then became a large snake that tried to eat Amity's character, but she teleported away in a burst of fire. Using another spell on the stone serpent, Luz created several smaller rocky snakes to try catching Amity. However, the other girl countered by using a spell to destroy and reform the stone serpents into an actual living snake monster. "You're a fool," Amity said as she watched Luz stare down the serpent.</p><p>"Do not underestimate me, Amity Blight. For I am the Good Witch, Luz Noceda! Warrior of Peace," Luz declared as she reenacted the very scene that was responsible for bringing her to Bonesborough. "NOW EAT THIS, SUCKA," she exclaimed as she crouched wielded Azura's staff like a bazooka, launching enormous fireballs at the serpent. As soon as the snake monster was destroyed, Amity and Luz charged at each other for another clash. But when they did, their vision went black and the screen showing the characters became distorted. "What?"</p><p>"Did this thing glitch on us," Amity questioned loudly before the machine powered down.</p><p>Looking over everything when she opened a side panel, Lilith groaned as Eda looked over her shoulder. "I'm afraid that there will be no more demonstrations today," Lilith morosely announced. "This is exactly why we have testing," she muttered to herself as Luz and Amity appeared to look for themselves.</p><p>"Well, I guess this means it's a draw," Eda remarked.</p><p>Hearing this, Amity started heading for the theater's exit and Luz began following her. "Amity, wait," she exclaimed before catching up with her.</p><p>"What do you want," she asked bitterly, upset that the match was a draw.</p><p>"I wanted to congratulate you. That last round was amazing," Luz told the girl. "You really did well in the first battle, too."</p><p>"That's because you were unprepared," Amity countered. "And if I knew about that second character, I would have been able to stop you then."</p><p>"I did well in the last two rounds because I knew about those characters. I researched them and enjoyed their series' so many times. But I had fun during the whole thing. Didn't you," Luz told her and asked a simple question.</p><p>Amity only looked at Luz as she thought it over. "It was... enjoyable to see how the progress on the machine was going," Amity replied.</p><p>"So, are we still doing that bet? Because I think before it glitched up on us, you were winning that last round," Luz questioned.</p><p>Amity sighed before she spoke to Luz. "We never signed a blood oath or anything. I'm calling it off. You can do whatever you want around Hexside. I doubt anyone will stop you," Amity said as she started leaving.</p><p>Luz only looked at Amity as she left her sight, but felt like she came to an understanding with Amity. "Luz," King cried out as he came running toward the girl with a tote bag in his mouth. "I found this chariot for you to carry me in," he said to her. Luz only giggled as she let King crawl inside and started carrying him to the exit as Gus and Willow showed up to talk about the match in Dimensional Duel.</p><hr/><p>Eda and Lilith were talking together as the latter was trying to test the Dimensional Duel cabinet. "Do you really have the time to focus on these games," Eda questioned.</p><p>"I'm in charge of multiple projects and I have to make sure they all work correctly," Lilith stated.</p><p>"Alright, alright. I'm just asking because of... well, you know."</p><p>Hearing her sister's hesitant tone, Lilith looked back at the woman. "Eda, I've been working hard to find a cure for your condition. I just have a lot on my plate right now," she said with regret about not being able to find the time to help her sister.</p><p>"Look, it's not like I'm a wanted criminal. Even if I'm guilty of petty thefts," Eda remarked with a whisper in the second half of her statement just as a number of items fell out of her hair. Quickly scooping them up, she placed them back in their hiding place as she spoke. "If you want to talk, I can give you my card so you can at least call me about more tests," she told Lilith as she gave the black-haired woman a business card for Palisman Café. "Besides, even you need a coffee break every once in a while. I'll see you when I see you."</p><p>Hearing Eda leave the theater, Lilith sighed as she stopped checking the machine and looked at the card. "Oh, Edalyn... This should have happened to you," Lilith said as she remembered the first time Eda's condition revealed itself. "I swear, I'll find a cure. Even if it costs me my own health and job."</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>And with this chapter finished, I'm happy to have made that little twist to Covention! Originally, I planned on the video game being holographic projections so that Luz and Amity could play Yu-Gi-Oh, but that meant trying to figure out full decks for them. The end result would have been the same with a draw, though. But with the game, it shows off more of the technology focus replacing magic and allows me to make more references. I also added parts of Eda and Lilith's duel from Covention in the last round because I thought it worked best that way. I especially liked adding in the Azura line that Luz said in episode 1. That just had to be put somewhere. XD</strong>
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  <strong>Anyways, we also got a look into the relationship between Eda and Lilith in this fic. Rather than fully antagonistic, the two sisters still care about each other and show off their 'peak sibling energy' like in the show. I'm also going to have fun explaining the canon adaptation for the end of Season 1 when I get there, but we'll just be focusing on the other chapters for now.</strong>
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  <strong>Now, with this chapter coming to a close, we'll be having some more lighthearted fun with Willow and Gus at the café for some slumber party fun. And don't worry, I'll include Amity and her 'gang' in. After all, I'm trying to stick with canon enough for things to make sense. That will include the reveal and Amity's emotions about her scenes, which I </strong>
  <em>
    <strong>did </strong>
  </em>
  <strong>hint at back in Chapter 3. So get ready to see that and some other moments later.</strong>
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  <strong>Until next time, WaterDragonMaverick signing out.</strong>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Friendship Blossoms Further</h2></a>
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    <p>
  <strong>Hello, readers. WaterDragonMaverick here with the next chapter of Palisman Café. Last time, I showed off more of my AU by having Luz and the others explore the counterpart to "Covention" and meet up with Amity. After a challenge that ended in a draw, Luz and Amity come to a bit of an understanding with each other. Not only that, but we meet Eda's sister and see their dynamic with each other in the fic.</strong>
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  <strong>Now with this chapter, we're going to get a little more character interaction and focus on the café. Not to mention a few details from canon added in and some lighthearted friendship moments. I hope you enjoy what happens in this chapter before we get to adapting one of my favorite episodes in Season 1.</strong>
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  <strong>Party on!</strong>
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  <strong>The Owl House is owned by Disney and was created by Dana Terrace</strong>
</p><hr/><p>Inside Palisman Café, also known as the Owl House, Luz was putting the finishing touches on some additions to the main café area. "There! How does it look," she asked Eda as she gestured to the glyph design on the wall that she made out of plastic stars.</p><p>"Well, looking at it now, it's pretty good, Luz," Eda complimented as she put a hand to her chin. "Maybe we could put more up around the place."</p><p>"Yeah, like on the ceiling," Luz said.</p><p>As Eda only smiled at Luz's enthusiasm, Hooty called out as somebody knocked on the door. "Delivery for Miss Clawthorne," said a voice on the other side of the door.</p><p>Looking through the owl-shaped peephole, Eda saw it was a delivery man with a few packages she ordered. "Ah, the supplies I wanted," Eda voiced as she opened the door and signed for her mail. "Come on, let's unpack this stuff," Eda said as she slammed the door with her foot when the man left.</p><p>Helping Eda, Luz put a box on the counter and watched the woman pull out a knife to unseal the package. "What did you get," Luz asked as Eda opened the box.</p><p>"Remember that bubble tea stuff you gave me after your friends took you to lunch? Well, I managed to find some cheap equipment to help make it," Eda said. "Just needs a little tinkering like with the stuff Owlbert finds."</p><p>"Cool! We can work on the menu later," Luz exclaimed as Eda started to inspect items. As she did, Luz noticed something fall off of the woman's wrist. "Um, Eda. It's happening again."</p><p>"What," Eda asked.</p><p>"Your hand," King said as he gestured to the dry skin coming off Eda's hand and arm like molting feathers.</p><p>Eda gasped as she looked, then all three went up to Eda's room to get her medicine. Unfortunately, Eda opened the cap to find the bottle empty. "Oh boy. This is terrible," she voiced as she shook the empty bottle around. "We'll need to go to my pharmacist in the market."</p><p>"Yay! Market," Luz cheered.</p><p>"I'm going to steal everything that isn't nailed down," King declared as the three left.</p><p>When they walked through the marketplace, Eda soon stopped at a certain building and knocked on a window shutter. "Open up, Morton," Eda called out to get the attention of somebody.</p><p>"Uh, j-just a minute," somebody responded.</p><p>Meanwhile, Luz was sitting on a nearby bench and enjoyed people watching with King sitting next to her. "Is there anything better than people watching in a new town? You can imagine all sorts of things that could happen in their lives," she remarked as she watched a trio of people get on a bus, which drove off as a small woman tried to catch it. "The curse of tiny legs," Luz commented as she saw the woman take a seat at the bus stop.</p><p>"I know the pain," King empathized. "Luckily, I don't have a reason to chase after such a trivial thing," the small dog stated before his head turned in another direction and he saw something. "SQUIRREL! Must chase," he exclaimed as he started chasing after the critter and barking at it. Luz could only laugh as she watched the scene.</p><p>"Come on, Morton," Eda said as she knocked on the shutter again.</p><p>"Sorry, Eda," a young pharmacist with brown eyes and brown hair said as he opened the shutter. "I was up the whole night taking inventory and I haven't gotten much sleep.</p><p>"I need a refill," Eda said as she handed her empty prescription bottle.</p><p>As Morton started getting Eda's medicine for her, Luz soon saw her friends walking nearby. "Willow and Gus," she said to herself before heading to them. "Heya, friends," the Latina greeted as she approached the two with a smile, which quickly faded when she saw the sad expressions of the two. "Wait, what's wrong? Who hurt my babies," she asked.</p><p>"Them," Willow laconically stated as she pointed a thumb behind her. Luz looked in the direction the Korean girl was pointing and saw Amity Blight with several girls her age in front of some snack stands. While the other girls were laughing with each other, Amity was silently browsing products with a neutral expression. "Amity's having a slumber party and invited everyone but me," Willow sadly explained.</p><p>"And she keeps posting about it on her Instagram account," Gus added as he showed the social media app and found the latest post to show Luz.</p><p>Looking at the selfie, Luz read what was typed up with it. "What?! 'It's Party Night! No Dorks Allowed!' Ugh! What a jerk. I thought we had an understanding after the convention," Luz complained as she glared in the direction of the girls.</p><p>"Gus and I have never been to a slumber party before," Willow sadly stated.</p><p>"You could have one with me at the café," Luz suggested. "Besides, we're way better than them."</p><p>Amity's gang started to walk past them with bags of treats for their party. A pink-haired girl in a yellow-sleeved uniform was laughing about something before seeing Willow. "Sorry that you couldn't get an invite to the party, Willow. Only winners allowed," she taunted as she looked at Amity, who only sighed in distaste.</p><p>"Leave her alone, Boscha. She can easily break your femur in half," Amity stated, remembering Willow's fit of anger from when Luz first showed up at Hexside. Before any of the girls could say anything else, Amity walked off with her bag, prompting the others to follow.</p><p>When the girls left, Willow growled and started muttering something in Korean, which Luz could tell from context was probably resentment about not being invited by Amity. "Don't waste your time getting thorny over them," Luz said as she put her arm around Willow's shoulders. "Because we'll have our own slumber party!"</p><p>"Are you serious," Gus excitedly asked as he and Willow smiled. "This is on my bucket list," he remarked as he pulled out a pen and a sheet of paper.</p><p>"Well, you can cross that off tonight," Luz stated. "I'll just see if it's okay with Eda, first."</p><p>As Luz went back to the pharmacy, she was able to hear Eda's conversation with Morton. "Here you go, E. This should last you for the month," the young man said.</p><p>"Thanks," Eda said as she pocketed the bottles. "I have an appointment with that lab later in the week, so I needed this just in case."</p><p>"Eda. Gus, Willow, and I want to have a slumber party so we can stick it to Amity. So, can we sp-," Luz said as she arrived, but was soon cut off by Eda.</p><p>"Of course," the woman stated. "I'm always a fan of sticking it to prissy snobs that deserve it. Plus, they could help see what's good for the café." Getting an answer from Eda, Luz squealed in delight as she turned to Gus and Willow, giving them thumbs-up to signal it was okay.</p><hr/><p>Later that night, Eda and Luz started to close up the café. "This is going to be so much fun," Luz said as she made sure she had everything she planned for. "Laptop for marathoning my favorite shows, art supplies for drawing up some fun works, karaoke machine I found in your closet, and even stuff for Dungeons and Dragons."</p><p>"Plus, I can teach you kids how to play Texas hold 'em," Eda added as she started shuffling a deck of cards.</p><p>"Oh boy, cards! The paper rectangles old people think are fun," Luz said as Owlbert landed next to Eda when she finished shuffling. "Aww, he thinks he can play cards."</p><p>"Oh, he can," Eda mentioned. "He's actually beaten me in a few hands before. I even have this made for him," she said as she placed a small green hat on Owlbert's head. Luz started gushing over the bird and took a photo of him before she posted it on Instagram and other sites.</p><p>Soon, Hooty sounded out as somebody knocked at the door. "That must be them," Luz exclaimed as she put away her phone and went to open the door. "Gus! Willow! You made it."</p><p>"Hi, Luz," the two friends greeted as Luz saw them out of their school uniforms and carrying several items with them. Willow wore a tan dress with long sleeves, a pair of leggings, and brown boots. Gus wore a bluish-green tunic with white sleeves, a black belt, black tights, and brown boots. While both had backpacks on, Gus was holding a strange projector of sorts while Willow had a small tree in her hands.</p><p>"I brought a bonsai tree for the café. Camellias. I thought it would look nice," Willow said as she put the plant on a table.</p><p>"You didn't have to do that," Luz replied with a smile.</p><p>"You really didn't," Eda added, sounding more deadpan. "I have to take care of several animals and the actual business of a café, so I don't have the time or reason to take care of some dinky little tree," she stated. Willow frowned, but then Owlbert flew in and landed next to the tree, hooting happily as he saw the plant. Seeing that, Eda rolled her eyes before speaking again. "But if Owlbert likes it, then I suppose I can keep it for him." Hearing this, Willow smiled brightly before Luz took a selfie with her and Owlbert next to the plant, then put it on social media.</p><p>"Come on, we're going to have so much fun," Luz said as Gus and Willow put their bags on a few chairs in the café. "We've got snacks, we've got music, we've got a lot of cool stuff to choose from. What should we do first?" Suddenly, Hooty flew toward them and the barn owl picked up the art supplies, as if to make a choice for himself. "Well, looks like Hooty wants to see us draw."</p><p>"Whatever floats your boat, kids. I'm going to test out that new drink shaker for the new menu," Eda said as she went behind the counter and started mixing some drinks together.</p><p>Luz, Willow, and Gus soon started drawing as they sat where they had room. Letting her guests take the more colorful pens and markers, Luz chose to simply use a pencil to sketch something. As the three drew up what they wanted, Gus was the first to show his work. "Guys! Check it out," he said as he held up a simple sketch of King. "Looks just like him, right?"</p><p>Luz and Willow looked at the sketch, then at King himself, who was chewing away at a squeaky toy. "Try adding some shadows for more detail," Luz suggested helpfully. "How are you doing, Willow?"</p><p>Willow smiled as she showed a drawing of some colorful flowers in an owl-shaped pot. "I thought that I should draw something meaningful. Something beautiful," she told her friend.</p><p>"Amazing work," Luz complimented. "It almost looks like the real thing!"</p><p>"Aw, shucks," Willow responded with a blush. "And what's your sketch?"</p><p>Luz returned to her paper and started filling in some more details just as Eda walked over with the first cups of bubble tea for the kids to try. "I decided to go with something that can have a little backstory," Luz told everyone as she lifted up her paper to show them the full sketch. The others gasped as they saw an owl-like beast with gray feathers, black eyes, and a dark gem in the creature's chest. "I decided to draw Eda if she was a cursed witch. This is her 'Owl Beast' form that causes her to become an animalistic demon if she doesn't take an elixir to control her condition," Luz explained as Eda took the paper to get a closer look at it.</p><p>"I know I should be repulsed, but that look is fierce," Eda voiced, liking the style of the artwork. Luz smiled as her art was appreciated, then she snapped a picture of it to post online before putting the sketch in one of her books for safekeeping. "Now then, how about you try this 'elixir' for yourselves," Eda said as she gave the trio the boba.</p><p>As they all took a drink, they enjoyed the taste of it. "This is really good, Miss Eda," Willow said as she enjoyed the cherry and orange flavor.</p><p>"It's delicious," Gus exclaimed as he practically inhaled the drink, falling out of his chair as he did. "I'm okay," he replied as a bucket was on his head.</p><p>"This is perfect for the menu, Eda," Luz said as she enjoyed her peach-flavored drink.</p><p>"Good to know," Eda said. "Now then, how about we play some Texas hold 'em?"</p><hr/><p>For the next hour or two, Eda taught the kids how to play poker with all of them betting snacks instead of money. After she won the first game, Eda stepped back and let the trio play with herself as the dealer. "I'll bet some chips," Luz said after she looked at her cards, tossing a bag of chips onto the table.</p><p>As Gus and Willow matched the bet, Eda started putting down the community cards. "So, how's everything at Hexside," Eda asked the two guests.</p><p>"I'm doing a lot better in the Botany Track than in Automatons," Willow says. "My grades have never been better."</p><p>"That's great to hear, Willow," Luz congratulated as Gus added a pack of cookies to the pot.</p><p>Eda soon placed down another card, which prompted Willow to fold. Staring down Gus as Eda put down the final card, Luz grinned as she revealed her pair to match the river. "Three of a kind! Come to Mama," Luz cheered as she managed to beat Gus' pair of 9's with three Jacks.</p><p>"Hey, can we get out of here? I'm getting bored," King complained as he looked at the group.</p><p>"You wanna go for a walk," Luz asked, making King's tail wag as he got excited. "Who wants to go outside? You wanna go outside? Do you? Do you," Luz playfully asked the dog.</p><p>"Yes! I do! I wanna go outside," King answered as he circled around Luz's feet, then went to the door to scratch it.</p><p>"I could stretch my legs after that," Willow said as the group decided to leave the house for a walk. As they left the café, the five enjoyed the light of the full moon as they took a stroll through the woods. After a while, Willow noticed somebody after getting far enough away from the property. "Hey, is that?"</p><p>"It's Boscha," Gus replied as he recognized the girl who made fun of him and Willow. The group saw her carrying a duffel bag as she was talking with somebody on her phone.</p><p>Seeing the girl, Eda could tell she was an annoying brat from how she carried herself. "You know, there's nothing like a good prank at a sleepover," the older woman remarked, encouraging the kids to get into a little mischief.</p><p>"I've been wanting to test this new hologram projector out," Gus said as he explained what the device that he brought with him was.</p><p>"So, what's it for," Luz asked as she saw Gus pull out a laptop and hook it up to his projector.</p><p>"All I need to do is get an image, then I can have the projector create a full replica of it. I can even edit some stuff onto what's projected," he explained as he showed the program on his computer.</p><p>"Cool," Luz and Willow said as they watched the boy create a copy of himself, which he then edited to have extra arms.</p><p>Thinking about how to use the projector in a prank, Eda had a devilish grin on her face as she figured something out. "Have you ever heard of Baba Yaga," she asked before giving a brief explanation of the Slavic myth.</p><p>"Yes, Mom, I'm going to a slumber party," Boscha said to her phone. "No, Mom, you can't come. And yes, it's sad that you're asking," she said before hanging up. Soon, a raven's cry sounded out and Boscha turned to see something behind her. "I didn't see that house before."</p><p>"Hey, you should stop being so mean to people," Luz said as she spoke into a megaphone that disguised her voice. "You're kind of a jerk." The kids chuckled to themselves as Luz stopped using the megaphone. "Thanks for this, Eda. It's helping out a lot," she told the woman, who only gave a smile and a shrug.</p><p>"Ugh, if somebody in that house is trying to give me a lecture, I'll just TP you like I did with the rest of the neighborhood," Boscha responded, which Luz ended up hearing.</p><p>"But don't you see? I am no mere house," Luz said into the megaphone again as Gus used his laptop and projector to make the replica of the Owl House stand up on giant bird legs. Seeing the house standing up, Boscha ran screaming at the sight of it while the group started laughing out loud. "Hahahaha! That was awesome!"</p><p>"I've never pranked anyone before! And now I have a taste for it," Gus told everyone as he stopped laughing.</p><p>"Okay, let's get going to the real Owl House," Eda said. "No need for the cops to show up when they see a giant walking building," she added as she shut off the laptop and projector.</p><p>"Oh, but we could have followed her to Amity's house," Willow complained.</p><p>"One victim at a time," Eda told the girl. "Besides, Luz said that the only real bad thing she did today was just a post on the internet. Let's just get back so you can have those snacks while watching shows."</p><p>"Not if I get there and eat them all first," King exclaimed as he bolted for the café.</p><p>Willow sighed as she looked in the direction Boscha ran. "Well, she <em>does </em>live on the other side of town," she remarked sadly.</p><hr/><p>Returning to the Palisman Café, the group watched some shows that Luz suggested. Mainly Kamen Rider installments to get Gus and Willow interested and anime that Luz loved. As they watched the shows on Luz's laptop, the Latina noticed that Willow was still upset about something. "Willow, what's wrong," she asked.</p><p>"Nothing," Willow said as she didn't bother facing Luz's direction.</p><p>"Are you sure? Does it have something to do with Amity," Luz questioned.</p><p>"I don't want to talk about it," Willow said as she became more defensive.</p><p>"Well, how can we enjoy the shows if you're not watching them," Luz stated. "Why does Amity's sleepover bother you so much?"</p><p>"I said I don't want to talk about it," Willow shouted angrily as she looked at Luz.</p><p>"¡Oye, no me hable así! I won't let my friends be angry at me like that when I just want to help," Luz exclaimed.</p><p>Hearing Luz say that to her, Willow's expression became sorrowful again. "I'm sorry, Luz. It's just... Amity leaving me out hurts more than you think," she sadly said.</p><p>"What do you mean," Luz asked while Eda and Gus listened.</p><p>"The truth is Amity and I used to be friends," Willow explained.</p><p>"Whaaat," Luz gawked in surprise at what the Korean girl was saying.</p><p>"We played together as kids, but when we got to our first year of middle school, she stopped hanging out with me," Willow continued. "It's been years since then, but every time she and her new friends see me, they just see me as a weed to crush under their feet without a second glance. Nothing but a weakling."</p><p>After hearing Willow explain her past with Amity, Luz was quick to cheer her friend up. "Are you kidding? Amity and her posse don't know what they're talking about! You're smart when it comes to plants, you can speak a language she can't, and you can wreck robots with a couple of kicks," Luz exclaimed. "Next to Eda, you're the strongest girl I know. You're not a weakling. You'd make an awesome hero in a show!" Listening to Luz, Willow smiled as the Dominican girl continued. "We may have only met earlier this summer, but you're my best friend."</p><p>"I thought I was your best friend," King whined as he put his head against Luz's lap, prompting her to pet the dog.</p><p>"Thanks, Luz. You're mine, too," Willow said as she hugged the girl.</p><p>"Wow, I know you can break metal with a kick, but you're stronger than you look," Luz remarked as she felt Willow pick her up off the ground.</p><p>"I work out every morning," Willow simply replied.</p><p>Eda only smiled as she saw Luz laughing as the two girls hugged each other. "Alright, you two. Either watch some more of that show or we start doing karaoke," the café owner told the girls.</p><p>Hearing the option of karaoke, Gus immediately went to the machine to find a song to start singing. "Hey! This one looks good. 'I Want It That Way' by The Backstreet Boys," Gus said as he looked at the machine.</p><p>"Oh, that's a good one," Luz said. "My mom and I always sang it in the car on road trips." Playing the song loudly for everyone to sing, Luz and her friends continued a great night with each other.</p><hr/><p>On the other side of Bonesborough, the castle-like Blight Manor was mostly quiet as Boscha and her posse were in Amity's bedroom. "For the last time, it wasn't a giant bird. It was a house with bird legs," Boscha said as she explained what she saw in the woods on her walk over to the manor.</p><p>"Are you sure it wasn't just a bird," asked a dark-skinned girl with red sleeves and leggings.</p><p>"Oh, shut it, Skara," Boscha snapped, causing the girl to recoil. "Let's just focus on what really matters. Instagram!"</p><p>Hearing the girl's declaration, the four girls sitting on Amity's bedroom floor started checking their phones. As they did, Amity only looked out at the sunrise from her window while she listened to music. With headphones on, she separated herself from the rest of the world with a forlorn expression, including the girls that were nearby.</p><p>
  <em>
    <strong>Mirror, mirror, what's behind you?</strong>
  </em>
  <br/>
  <em>
    <strong>Save me from the things I see!</strong>
  </em>
  <br/>
  <em>
    <strong>I can keep it from the world,</strong>
  </em>
  <br/>
  <em>
    <strong>Why won't you let me hide from me?</strong>
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</p><p>
  <em>
    <strong>Mirror, mirror, tell me something,</strong>
  </em>
  <br/>
  <em>
    <strong>Who's the loneliest of all?</strong>
  </em>
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  <em>
    <strong>I'm the loneliest of all.</strong>
  </em>
</p><p>As the song ended, Amity heard Boscha gasp in surprise as she checked Instagram and other social media apps. Taking off her headphones, she walked over and kneeled down to see what Boscha found on her phone. Throughout the night, people that the pink-haired girl followed had shared various posts that all came from the same person, Luz Noceda. Seeing the photos, videos, and comments, Amity and the other girls couldn't believe what they saw. Especially when one particular photo appeared, which showed the same bird-legged house overlooking the beach with Luz, Willow, and Gus smiling as they stood underneath it. Amity and Boscha only gawked at everything they saw before they had the same thought. "WHAT?"</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>And with this chapter complete, I how you enjoyed my version of "Hooty's Moving Hassle". Since this was another magic-heavy episode, I adapted the house acting like it did in an interesting way that fits this AU. I also made it so that Eda could stay and let the kids have fun because of her condition being different than canon.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>But my favorite parts would have to be Willow's confession about her past with Amity and the girl's isolation at the end. I thought that having the scene get an addition like that was a good way of showing Amity's emotions before we get another real focus on her in the next chapter. Especially with her choice of music. For those of you who don't recognize it, the song is that last part of "Mirror Mirror" from RWBY Volume 1. I just thought that the song (and a few others for that matter) fit Amity's canon characterization well. As such, she's a fan of the series and Weiss herself.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Now then, we'll be going into one of my favorite episodes of the first season next! I'm going to have fun showing what I'm going to do with Luz and Amity in this fic's version of "Lost in Language". Not to mention the twins. I'll let you all wonder what will happen while I write it up. For now, leave a review if you liked this chapter and say what you enjoyed about it.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Until next time, WaterDragonMaverick signing out!</strong>
</p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Illuminating A Darkened Path</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Greetings, readers! WaterDragonMaverick here with the next chapter of my Owl House fanfic, "Palisman Café". Last time, Luz and her friends had a slumber party that led to Willow revealing that she and Amity used to be friends. Now that we've finished that, we can go onto covering one of my favorite episodes of The Owl House Season 1, where I started to love Amity as a character. Now, you'll definitely see some differences in this adaptation and the canon episode, but it's all to help get what I wanted for this AU. After this chapter, we'll be focusing more on established character interactions and the café setting rather than adapting episode plots. It'll be more fun that way and not me ripping everything off.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Get lost in a good story.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>The Owl House is owned by Disney and was created by Dana Terrace</strong>
</p><hr/><p>It had been over two weeks since Luz started working at the Palisman Café and she was doing rather well at her job in the quiet establishment. After helping out that morning by feeding the animals and setting up tables, Luz was standing on the couch as she read the fifth Good Witch Azura book with King sitting down next to her. "'Azura', Hecate began. 'Our paths have only crossed in battle. But today, I stand before you seeking an ally'," Luz narrated before sighing in delight at the thought of the series and her favorite fictional character.</p><p>"Luz, you're getting all swoony again," King pointed out.</p><p>"I can't help it. Azura is able to befriend everyone. Even her biggest rival," Luz explained. "I wish I had that kind of power. Or at least get along with Amity. If she was friends with Willow before, she can't be all that bad."</p><p>"Rivals are meant to be annihilated not befriended," King stated before he started wagging his tail excitedly. "Now keep reading. I've been sucked into your awful fandom."</p><p>"Excellent! I've converted another," Luz exclaimed with a chuckle at her joke. "Okay. Suddenly, the door swung open," she started narrating.</p><p>But before she could do anything, Hooty called out and was able to open the door. "AGH! The book has come to life! Burn it," King exclaimed.</p><p>"¡Oye! ¡Absolutamente no! The only way you're doing that to my book is if you pry it out of my cold, dead, Dominican hands," Luz exclaimed as she kept the book away from King, clutching it against her chest while a business card for the café was used as a bookmark. After defending her book, Luz saw that there was something at the doorstep of the café. Picking it up with a struggle, she brought it to the kitchen. "Eda, you have a package. A pretty heavy one, too. Looks like a gift basket," she told the older woman as King followed her.</p><p>"Probably a delivery or an offering. I might be in my 40's, but I'm still a catch," Eda remarked with a toss of her thick silver hair.</p><p>Managing to climb onto the table, King gently pulled back the blanket covering the basket to reveal a trio of sleeping infants. "Awww, they sweepy," Luz gushed as she saw the babies.</p><p>"Mmm! Fresh meat," King said in response, immediately getting bopped on the nose by Luz as she glared at the dog. "Weh! I was kidding," he exclaimed before finding something on the side of the basket. "Hey, there's a note. 'Take care of my children 'til morning. Yi Yi!' Huh?"</p><p>"Nope! Babies are awful. Not happening," Eda exclaimed as she put her thumbs down. "I only agreed to take care of Luz because she was old enough to take enough care of herself."</p><p>King ignored Eda's complaints and read the rest of the note. "Hmm... 'You will be handsomely rewarded. XOXOXOX, BQ'. Does this mean what I think it means?"</p><p>"BQ," Eda questioned as she recognized the initials, then looked at the note's handwriting. After doing so, she looked at the feet of the children and saw gold coins underneath the blanket. "It <em>is </em>her," Eda exclaimed as she started to inspect one of the coins.</p><p>"Who's BQ," Luz asked.</p><p>"She's the descendant of former Eastern European royalty. Because of that, she goes by the alias of 'The Bat Queen'," Eda explained. "She lives out in the woods, but she's actually the one who helped fund my café. The Bat Queen is basically my best investor since she's the richest woman in the region. If you were to get in good with her, you'd be set for life."</p><p>"So, you're going to do it now," Luz asked.</p><p>"All we need to do is keep these three alive for a few hours and we get paid," Eda remarked as she flipped the coin in her hands and caught it. "Pfft. Easy."</p><p>"Our greatest adventure yet! Learning about love and life through a child's eyes," Luz stated as she was excited to look after the babies.</p><p>"Not you," Eda immediately shot down. "I need you to return all my books I checked out to the library," she explained, placing a large pile of books in Luz's arms. "I don't want her getting a cut of the reward," she whispered to King.</p><p>"Good thinking," King quietly agreed.</p><p>"Now then, let's get a better look at the little darlings," Eda said as she fully removed the blanket from the basket. As she did, the babies all began to cry loudly, upsetting the animals in the café and surprising Eda. "On second thought, we could use some help," she called out to Luz over the bat-like screaming of the infants.</p><p>"Well, better head off for the library! Gotta go! Bye," Luz exclaimed as she immediately ran out the back door, getting as far away from the Owl House as fast as she could.</p><p>"She ditched us," King yelled as he tried to cover his ears.</p><p>"To be fair, I would have done the same if there wasn't any money," Eda voiced.</p><hr/><p>Carefully balancing the books in her arms, Luz made her way into town and saw a short woman carrying a large book. Looking in the direction she came from, Luz found the local library in front of her. When she entered the building and was amazed by everything, she suddenly felt her load become light and saw a librarian grabbed the books from her and scanned them. "Late. Late. Coffee, grass, <em>and </em>blood stains? These are Eda's, aren't they," the man asked as he inspected the cover of a book.</p><p>Luz only laughed awkwardly. "Yeah, that was a crazy night," she said, then noticed a photograph on the desk that showed a smiling Eda that said her library card was revoked.</p><p>"I'll put them on her tab," he told her as he pulled out a long sheet of paper and wrote down on it. Luz could see the top it at her feet and it read 'EDA OWES US FOR THIS LIST'. "By the way, we're closing early tonight. There's a meteor shower and most of the library staff is part of the Bonesborough Astrological Society."</p><p>"Ooo... Sounds fun. What's that?"</p><p>"You're in a library," the man pointed out. "Read a book."</p><p>"I <em>am </em>in a library. I <em>will </em>read a book," Luz said excitedly, prompting the man to shush her while putting away the paper with Eda's debts. Looking around the library, Luz was enjoying her time before she stopped near the reference section. "This place is amazing," Luz exclaimed.</p><p>"What do you think you're doing," a voice said, scaring Luz as she heard the tone.</p><p>"I've been caught! Pretend to be a book," the Latina said to herself, staying absolutely still in a boxed position until she heard the sound of children laughing. "Wait..."</p><p>Seeing a 'Kid's Corner' in the library, Luz looked as she recognized the girl sitting in a chair while several children from Hexside's kindergarten class were on the floor in front of her. "'We're your friends and we wanna help', said the Tin Boy with a yelp. Otabin smiled and paced the floor. 'I've never had real friends before'."</p><p>"Amity reading to kids," Luz questioned as she hid out of Amity's sight, continuing to listen in on the story as she went to hide next to a low bookshelf.</p><p>"'Then we'll be your first,' the Chicken Witch clucked. Otabin couldn't believe his luck. So, Bookmaker Otabin surrounded by friends, bound a book of friendship and that's the end'," Amity narrated as she happily read to the children, finishing the story as the kids laughed in delight.</p><p>Witnessing the scene in front of her, Luz couldn't believe it. "Amity seems so nice and smiley. I knew she wasn't a complete jerk," she remarked to herself with a growing smile before she gasped in realization. "Maybe I can befriend her like Azura befriended her rival." As the children started to leave, Luz decided to duck out of sight and pretend to look for a book on the shelf.</p><p>Amity waved to the kids as they left, but one of them hugged her legs before he left. "Good‐bye, Miss Amity. Thank you," the boy said with a very surprisingly deep voice for a 5-year old.</p><p>"Thank you, Braxes. See you next time," Amity gently said as she put a hand on the boy's head, then smiled as he left.</p><p>"Awww, that was so nice of you," Luz said as she stood up, holding a manga volume in her hands.</p><p>Amity's smile immediately faded as she saw Luz. "Ugh. It's you," she said in disdain.</p><p>"Amity," Luz greeted as she leaned against the low shelf, but ended up dropping the book she was holding by mistake. "Whoop. Reading to kids. Wow. Looks like this sour lemon drop has a hidden sweet center," Luz commented as she managed to actually lean against the shelf.</p><p>"It's for extra credit," Amity dismissed despite the fact she was enjoying her volunteering. "Don't get your leggings in a bunch."</p><p>As Amity picked up the book Luz dropped, the Latina continued speaking with the green-haired girl. "Hey, I could help with the kids. We could take turns reading. I think they'd love the story of the Four Maidens from RWBY," she suggested while offering to help. "Oh! We could do voices. I do the best <strong>monster voice</strong>," she added as she said the last two words in a robotic tone, which only reminded Amity of the incident two weeks ago at Hexside.</p><p>"Look, do you see me going to the Owl Shack and bugging you while you... fry up owls," Amity tried to argue, but stammered as she incorrectly guessed Luz's job at Palisman. "Okay, I don't know what it is you do there, but every time you're near me, something I don't want happens. Just leave me alone," she admitted, not wanting Luz around her.</p><p>Luz was hurt by Amity's words, which the girl noticed. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry," Luz said as she started to leave the children's area. Sighing as she slowly walked out, Luz spoke to herself again. "So much for befriending rivals."</p><p>"You gonna let her get to you like that," asked a boy.</p><p>Looking to her right, Luz saw an attractive boy with green hair and the same color Hexside uniform as Gus leaning against a bookshelf with a similar-looking girl close by. Luz could tell they were identical twins that looked about two years older than her, but the boy was taller and the siblings had beauty marks under opposite eyes. "Who are you," Luz asked.</p><p>"Well-wishers on a mission," the boy explained as he held a lunch bag in his hand while walking up to Luz.</p><p>"A noble quest," the girl added.</p><p>"Watch this," the boy said to Luz before looking into the children's area. "Hey, Mittens," he called out to the only person in the room. Hearing the boy behind her, Amity's face turned red as she was called by a nickname she didn't like to be addressed by in public. "Mom says stop forgetting your lunch," the boy said as he held up the lunch bag that looked like a rabbit. "Also, we want you to stop being a jerk to your friend," he added as he mentioned Luz while Amity grabbed the bag from him.</p><p>"She is not my friend," Amity stated, upsetting Luz more.</p><p>As Luz sulked, the older girl put her hands on her shoulders. "Yeah, makes sense. She seems too cool for you," the female twin remarked, defending Luz.</p><p>"I am," Luz asked in confusion.</p><p>"You can leave now. <em>All </em>of you," Amity told them as she huffed away, making the girl laugh. After Amity left, the twins smiled at Luz while the boy winked at her, making her blush and chuckle nervously.</p><p>"So, you're the girl we've been hearing so much about," the boy mentioned as the three walked through the halls of the library.</p><p>"I'm Emira. And this is Edric. We're Amity's older siblings," the older girl said as she introduced herself and her brother to Luz. "We heard about how you embarrassed her at school and at the science convention last week. No wonder she doesn't like being around you."</p><p>"Yeah, but I never meant for her to get in trouble back then," Luz said. "I thought after testing that game, we came to an agreement. But it looks like I won't actually be friends with her at this rate."</p><p>"Don't waste your time with Mittens if she's not even going to give you a chance," Emira told Luz as she took the girl carefully by the arm. "Me and Ed are way more fun. Follow us."</p><p>Joining the twins, Luz watched them pull harmless pranks around the library. Edric erased the part of the label for 'Non-Fiction' off a sign just before a librarian showed up guiding some people, freaking him out. After that, Emira sneakily kept placing books back onto a trolley while another librarian was busy reading a story that caught his attention while shelving the books. Luz, Edric, and Emira all snickered as he did this without a clue, then moved on. Finally, Edric blew off a large collection of dust from a book and made several people have sneezing fits while he laughed with his sister and Luz. "Hey," called out a voice after the last prank, which belonged to Amity.</p><p>Soon, Luz and the twins were escorted out of the library. "You've been disrupting everyone for too long. Stay out until you know how to behave," the librarian said before firmly shutting the doors.</p><p>The three laughed to themselves before Luz spoke up. "Amity's even madder at me now. I didn't think that was possible."</p><p>"Nah, when Mittens gets mad, she looks like this," Edric said just before holding his breath until his face turned red. "Wow. I almost passed out," he remarked after he exhaled and nearly fell over.</p><p>"You're pretty fun, Luz," Emira told the Latina before she and Edric nodded in sync to each other. "So, hey, we're coming back tonight. There's a certain book we forgot to check out."</p><p>"Sure," Luz agreed, happy to spend time with the Blight Twins.</p><p>"Great! Meet back here at midnight," Edric said as he and Emira started to head off. "See you, Luz."</p><p>"Bye," Luz called out before she started talking to herself. "This is great. First, I befriend the twins. Then, I befriend the Amity. I need to get my stuff," Luz said with an excited squeal before running off.</p><p>As Luz left, Amity stepped out from behind the corner of the library, fuming as her face turned red in anger before she started to get lightheaded. "Phew! Almost passed out," she said to herself as she caught her breath.</p><hr/><p>Back at Palisman Café, King and Eda were fed up with the crying from the babies. "It's been hours. How can they keep screaming," King exclaimed as he tried hiding under several of his stuffed animals to muffle the noise, but it failed.</p><p>"I know, but think about the money," Eda remarked. "Ugh, I can't put with this torture. I can't believe I'm about to do this," she stated before picking up the children, who immediately stopped crying when they were held, surprising Eda and King. "Rock, rock. Maternal gesture," Eda said as she rocked the babies in her arms.</p><p>As things were finally quiet, Luz returned. "I just had the best day. Cool teens like me. Call me a library book because they were checking me out," she said. Turning to see Eda and King on the couch with the babies, Luz smiled at the sight. "Aw, Eda, you look so motherly."</p><p>"Say that again and you're sleeping on the roof like Hooty," Eda told Luz as she didn't like being called motherly.</p><p>"Aw. How can you say that around these cute little babies," Luz asked before she smelled something awful. "Ugh! Parenting sure looks rewarding. Enjoy your life lessons. Bye," she exclaimed before grabbing her bag and fifth Azura book before running out of the door.</p><p>"Oh god, it reeks! It's even worse for me since I'm a dog," King exclaimed as Luz rushed back into Bonesborough.</p><p>Luz sighed in relief as she dodged a bullet with changing three dirty diapers, then headed off for town. After spending enough time getting something to eat, she waited at the library and wondered how to present herself to Edric and Emira when they arrived. "Gotta be cool. Cool? No. Cool." Luz kept doing different poses, but only groaned as she felt none of them were good enough.</p><p>"Keep going," said Emira, startling Luz. "This is fun to watch," she told the girl while she was on the ground. Instead of wearing their uniforms, the twins now wore matching gray clothes with burgundy tunics. But while Edric wore full-length pants and boots, Emira had shorts and black shoes while her tunic had a green gem on the chest. The two also had a bag with a projector similar to the one Gus brought to the slumber party at the café.</p><p>"You're ready to bring this whole, uh, whatever you doing, inside," Edric asked Luz, who excitedly nodded, leaving her bag at the front steps as she joined them. "It says 'No Trespassing', but I'm allergic to the rules," the male Blight said as he skillfully twirled a key in his hand.</p><p>"And dairy," Emira remarked as she took the key from him.</p><p>"Wow, okay. Just expose me," Edric said as he didn't expect his sister to blab about his health.</p><p>"I'm lactose intolerant myself," Luz admitted, cheering Edric up a little.</p><p>"See, I'm not the only one," he told his twin, who only rolled her eyes playfully. After unlocking the front door, the three headed inside. "Come on," Edric said to Luz.</p><p>Entering the library, the twins made sure to close the door behind them. "Standing in a dimly lit lobby. You sure know how to party," Luz said before Edric brought something to their attention.</p><p>"Look there," the boy pointed out as shooting stars passed through the night sky, which the three were able to see through the stained-glass window above the main doors of the building.</p><p>"Whoa... Cool," Luz said as she watched the colored glass create an impromptu light show in the library. Almost as if birds were flying around. "So, what else should we do?"</p><p>"Anything we want," Emira suggested. Smiling as they had an entire library to themselves, Luz and the twins started to check out whatever caught their eye without anybody to interrupt them. Starting at a magazine rack, the twins found a fashion magazine and used their projector to give themselves regal outfits, complete with Emira's braided ponytail changing into a bun. "Oh, I'm definitely saving this for an actual outfit," Emira said as she made sure to keep the hologram image on a file. After that, the twins used a gaming magazine to give Luz an outfit for a hologram of her, but they messed with it by making the image realistically fall over from the size and weight of the sword. Leaving the magazines, Luz and the twins soon made their way to the graphic novels section and they offered to let Luz use their projector. Deciding to do something simple, Luz made it so that their conversation had word bubbles above them, just like a comic. "Wow, that's cool, Luz."</p><p>"Thanks," the younger girl said as Emira started to instruct her on the use of the projector.</p><p>"It's a basic thing, but still good. At least you didn't screw it up," Edric remarked.</p><p>"Just like your last date," Emira joked, making her speech bubble pierce through Edric.</p><p>"That hurts, Em," Edric said in a falsely wounded tone.</p><p>Soon after, they stopped using the projector and went around the library separately. Luz soon found herself in the Kid's Corner and she noticed the book Amity was reading to the children earlier. "Otabin the Bookmaker," Luz said to herself as she read the title, then opened the book to see an adorable pink rabbit-like creature drawn in the pages. "Aw. 'Otabin spent his days alone amongst the books he'd sewn. With needle and thread, the pages he'd mend. But all the while, he longed for a friend.' Oh, this is so cute," Luz said as read the first pages of the children's book. "I wonder why Amity chose to read this to them?"</p><p>"Hey, Luz," Edric called out as he and Emira came into view.</p><p>"We found the section where the book we're looking for is, but need help," Emira told her.</p><p>Putting the Otabin book down, Luz followed the twins to the romance section. "Oh, wow. Romance," Luz awkwardly said as she took note of the location. "Totally lame, right? I mean, unless you're into that."</p><p>Edric and Emira only looked at each other knowingly. "I think I like this one in particular," Edric voiced as he grabbed a book titled 'The Lone Witch and the Secret Room'. Pulling it slightly off the shelf, Luz heard a click before Edric put it back.</p><p>When he did, the shelf moved aside to reveal a hidden room with glowing stars strung up from the ceiling, a writing desk, bookshelf walls, and a few other things. "Wow! That's a good book," Luz said as she took in the sight. "Your secret clubhouse is like my ultimate secret hideaway," she told the twins.</p><p>"We don't hang out in a library," Edric replied.</p><p>"This is <em>Amity's </em>secret hideaway," Emira explained, surprising Luz as she looked around. Seeing a large poster of Weiss Schnee from RWBY as well as several other characters from series she enjoyed, Luz started to see it <em>was </em>Amity's secret clubhouse.</p><p>"Mittens has gotten too... full of herself," Edric told the Dominican girl. "She's always tattling on us when we cut class. I mean, it's summer. We shouldn't be in school if we don't wanna."</p><p>"Exactly," Emira added. "She needs to learn not to mess with people like that. So, we're going to find her diary."</p><p>"Then post the pages around school for everyone to read," Edric finished as the two laughed to each other.</p><p>Hearing their plan, Luz was appalled. "WHAT!? You can't do that! That's taking things too far," Luz exclaimed.</p><p>"No. See, we're her family," Emira stated. "It's tough love. She needs to learn to lighten up."</p><p>"I don't think that's really tough love," Luz exclaimed as the twins started searching for the diary. "That's more like murdering her social life. She's allowed to have her privacy. I may still want to be her friend, but I know that there are lines that shouldn't be crossed. Besides, I don't see any diary here. The only thing I see is posters and-" Luz gasped in shock as she saw a small sign that said 'My Favorite Books' with a series she was practically obsessed with. "Good Witch Azura 1 through 4! I didn't know she read these," Luz said in excitement, knowing that she and Amity had another thing in common. "I mean, she did play as Hecate in that last round in the convention, but I thought she was just going with what was in the movies. Is this cover hand-drawn," Luz said quietly to herself as she noticed a smaller book with what looked like a paler Azura with shorter hair.</p><p>Opening the book, Luz read the page she saw. 'I saw that girl again today. I may have overreacted. I didn't mean to come off as cruel. It's just that I can't show weakness.'</p><p>"The diary," Luz whispered to herself as she immediately snapped the book shut. "I can't let them get this."</p><p>"Can't get what," Edric asked.</p><p>"Nothing," Luz told Edric as she turned to face the boy, holding Amity's diary behind her back. Unfortunately, Emira snuck behind her and grabbed the diary. "Hey, stop!"</p><p>"Let's see what this is," Emira said as she opened to a page of the book and read it. "It's not fair. I'm the only one that knows Ed and Em aren't perfect. Why do they keep getting away with things?"</p><p>"This is it," Edric and Emira voiced together as they found Amity's diary.</p><p>"Luz, were you trying to hide this from us," Emira asked as Edric held onto the diary.</p><p>"You've seen how she treats people," Edric stated, reminding Luz of Amity's standoffish and mean behavior. "How she treats you."</p><p>"I know Amity can be kind of cold but no one deserves this," Luz responded, agreeing with the twins that Amity isn't a nice girl. "These are private thoughts. We should put this back and leave. Besides, I think Amity's here."</p><p>"What do you mean," Edric and Emira questioned in sync.</p><p>"Look at the candle on the desk," Luz pointed out, prompting them to turn. "It looks like it's been lit for a few hours. I think she stayed behind to make sure you didn't get the diary," she explained before quickly grabbing the book out of Edric's hand. But as she did, several loose pages fell out and onto the floor. Luz quickly kneeled down picked up the papers, briefly seeing that they were entries with Amity's thoughts about accidentally calling a teacher 'Mom', Luz not leaving her alone, apologizing to her diary for not writing lately and questioning why she would even say that, and even an entry saying that she felt like she had nowhere to go. "I'm not going to let you do this," Luz stated to the twins. "You can't spread Amity's diary pages around Hexside. She might be an ice queen, but Amity deserves to have some comfort with being able to keep her private thoughts to herself. How would you like it if she found out your thoughts and did the same thing," Luz told the twins, stopping any attempt at an argument before it happened.</p><p>"So, that's what they were up to," said a familiar voice from behind Luz. Turning around, Luz saw that Amity was standing in front of her secret entrance. "You two are the worst," the youngest Blight told her older siblings, then turned to Luz as the girl gave back her diary. "I heard everything. I've been trying to figure out what your deal is. Are, are you a poser? A nerd? At worst, I thought you were a bully, Luz," Amity said as she held her diary close. "But if you were doing this, despite how I've been treating you, then I guess you aren't all that bad," Amity admitted. "I'm still mad that you read my diary," she stated.</p><p>"I'm sorry," Luz said. "I just wanted to be your friend. Before I got here, I never had any friends before Gus and Willow," she said as she looked at her feet, missing the expressions of the Blight siblings at the mention of Willow Park. "I thought that I could make some new ones over the summer before I go back home."</p><p>Listening to the girl, Amity didn't know what to say while the twins decided to leave. "Hey, if you want to hang out, we could go to this artist alley in town and make some street art," Edric offered as he spoke to Luz.</p><p>"As fun as that sounds, I should really get going," Luz told the twins.</p><p>"Okay. See you around, cutie," Emira replied with a wink, making Luz blush.</p><p>"<em>Why do they both have to be so hot</em>," Luz thought to herself before calming down. "Uh, um... Where's my bag," she asked aloud.</p><p>"I don't know. I've been in here for the last few hours," Amity stated as she made sure the pages of her diary were in place. "Looks like I'll need a new hiding spot for this," she muttered to herself.</p><p>"Maybe this sort of big puzzle box lock thing," Luz suggested as she spoke to Amity, then tried to remember where she left her bag.</p><p>"Ugh, look. If we don't speak of this night, I'll help you find your bag," Amity told Luz. The Latina smiled and nodded as the two girls started searching. After looking at several areas, Amity was getting a little irritated at not being able to find the bag. "Okay, we know it isn't in Romance, the Kid's Corner, Graphic Novels, or Non-Fiction. Think back to when you first got here."</p><p>Doing just that, Luz remembered where her bag was and slapped her forehead hard enough to leave a red mark. "I left it outside," Luz said. "Soy tonta," she added in Spanish. Hearing Luz never even brought her bag inside, Amity couldn't help but laugh a little.</p><p>After leaving the library, the sun was rising over Bonesborough. Luz put her bag around her shoulder and Amity spoke to her. "Okay, we found your bag. This night never happened," she said as she started to head down the stairs.</p><p>"Wait," Luz called out, stopping Amity from leaving. "I know it doesn't make up for reading your diary, but I saw you only had the first four books," she said as she pulled out Good Witch Azura 5 from her bag. "Maybe I can give you some space and you can read it?"</p><p>Seeing Luz offer the one Azura book she didn't have, Amity was surprised by the girl's kindness. "Thank you," she said as she held the novel in her hands. "I know I haven't been the friendliest girl. I'll think on that," Amity told Luz before walking off. Luz watched Amity head off, then went on her own way. "After everything I've said to her, she still wanted to be friends? I guess you really shouldn't judge a book by its cover," Amity said to herself with a silent chuckle. As she looked at the fifth Azura book, Amity noticed something sticking out of the pages. Removing it, she saw it was a business card for a place called 'Palisman Café' and realized that was the 'Owl Shack' that she inaccurately talked about.</p><hr/><p>Luz was exhausted after that night in the library and was ready to sleep immediately when she arrived at the Owl House. When she opened the door, she saw that Eda, King, and the babies were peacefully sleeping on the couch. "Awww, so cute," Luz remarked before Hooty called out and Luz turned to see somebody behind her. The woman was tall, had long black hair, and was dressed like she was vampire royalty. "Whoa. You must be Mama," Luz remarked as she watched the woman duck under the doorframe.</p><p>"Yes. Mama is I. And I is the Bat Queen," the woman said with a thick accent and broken English.</p><p>"Well, Eda took good care of your kids," Luz told the woman as she pointed to the couch.</p><p>BQ only smiled as she approached the sleeping group just as the infants started waking up. "Aah. Snuggle dumplings," she said as she picked up her children and held all three in one arm with ease. Placing a bag at Luz's feet, the girl saw the large amount of money and thought it was a few thousand dollars. "For troubles. Eda is owed one," the Bat Queen told Luz to relay the message as she left out the door and stepped into a horse-drawn carriage, waving to Luz as she and the children left.</p><p>Luz waved back just as Eda started waking up. "Ah. Sweet babies," she said before noticing the lack of anything in her arms. "Babies? Where are the babies," Eda questioned in growing worry and panic.</p><p>"Mama just picked them up," Luz explained with a yawn.</p><p>"Oh... And I just taught Junior how to pick locks," Eda bemoaned.</p><p>"Well, your night looked successful," Luz said as she put the money in Eda's lap.</p><p>Eda smiled at the reward, but frowned after a second when she looked at King. "Right. We did it for the money..."</p><p>"I miss my babies," King exclaimed before he started howling.</p><p>"I actually got you something from the library after I left earlier," Luz told Eda as she reached into her bag.</p><p>Eda watched as Luz gave her a book called 'Coping with Empty Nest Syndrome', which made the woman chuckle. "Thanks, kid. So how was your night?"</p><p>"Good. Then bad. Then, maybe good," Luz said. "I'll find out later. Right now, I want sleep."</p><p>"I have to go somewhere today anyways," Eda explained. "We can keep the shop closed. You get some rest. If there's one thing I've learned early on in my life, nothing good happens after 2 am. Go sleep. You need it." Luz smiled before yawning and heading upstairs while Eda fed the animals for her.</p><hr/><p>After she got enough rest, Luz was up and ready to enjoy her afternoon. As she cleaned up the tables and looked after the animals, Eda soon showed up again. "Hey, kid. You get enough sleep?"</p><p>"Yup. I slept like log," Luz told her boss before noticing something in her arms. "Aww, who's this little guy," she asked as she saw a small pink rabbit in Eda's arms.</p><p>"Apparently the research facility that I go to for checking my condition was using this little guy to test hair products. That's why he's pink," Eda stated as she placed the bunny down. "So, I swiped him on my way out and decided to bring him here."</p><p>"Does he have a name," Luz asked as she carefully approached the rabbit, who soon snuggled against her.</p><p>"Nope. You want to give him one?"</p><p>Luz looked at the bunny and the first thing that popped in her head was the storybook that Amity read in the library. "How about Otabin?"</p><p>"Better than 'Testing Animal 7' if you ask me," Eda remarked. "Let's get the little guy acquainted with everyone and make sure the owls know not to torment the little guy."</p><p>As Luz and Eda made sure that the new animal was comfortable, they heard Hooty call out when the door opened. "Hi there. Welcome to Palisman Café," Luz greeted before she processed who came into the establishment. "Amity?!"</p><p>Amity Blight looked around the café before noticing Luz. "So, this is the rumored Owl House," the green-haired girl remarked. "You actually sleep here," Amity questioned as she looked at Luz.</p><p>"When the night creatures allow me," Luz responded, gesturing to the barn owl next to Amity. The bird only hooted as he flew onto Amity's shoulder, pressing his face against hers. "What are you doing here?"</p><p>"I found a card for this place in the book you loaned me," Amity stated as she pushed Hooty off of her arm. "It was close to school, so I thought I would take a look for myself."</p><p>"If that's the case, what do you want? Drink? Snack? Time with the animals," Eda asked, happy to get some new customers.</p><p>Questioning the last option, Amity soon saw the small pink rabbit hiding behind Luz's feet. Silently gasping as she saw the colorful animal, her eyes widened and she kneeled down to carefully let him approach her. "Don't worry," Amity whispered to the rabbit. "I won't hurt you. I'll be your friend."</p><p>Luz watched as the bunny approached Amity, smiling as she did. "Aww, Otabin likes you," Luz said to Amity as she picked up the rabbit. "You want to meet the other animals," she asked, making Amity smile as she silently nodded. Guiding Amity to the animal area, Luz showed off the cats and owls that rested comfortably with a kitten or two nuzzling up to Amity affectionately. "So, what are some of your favorite moments in RWBY," Luz asked as she was finally able to talk with Amity as friends.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>Luz has finally befriended Amity! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter because I loved writing it up. Having the scene in the secret room go like it did was a twist I wanted to add because of the lack of the Wailing Star bringing the books to life like in canon. In exchange, I added a scene in the end with Amity arriving at the Owl House much earlier than in the series. With this, we have a new regular for the café and Luz gets to spend time with a new friend.</strong>
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  <strong>Now then, the next chapter or two I work on for this fic won't be directly influenced by episodes, so be prepared for when I eventually post them. Especially since I'll be focusing more on the cafe aspect a little rather than the sci-fi used to replace magic in this fic. I hope you'll enjoy what happens when I get there.</strong>
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  <strong>I can see a chapter later in this fic focusing more on the dynamic between Luz and her friends instead of some episodes like the attempt at writing a book or the shrinking potion at the carnival. I still plan on a carnival, though. That'll be a good friendship chapter between Luz and the others.</strong>
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  <strong>Until the next story update, WaterDragonMaverick signing out!</strong>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. New Days of Palisman</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Hello everyone! WaterDragonMaverick here with my next installment of "Palisman Café". Last chapter, Luz had a little adventure in the local library while Eda did some babysitting. While there, Luz learned more about Amity and even met her older siblings, Edric and Emira. After an encounter that went differently than canon, Luz and Amity have now started a friendship.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>In this chapter, we'll be focusing on some other stuff rather than just adapting things that happen in each episode. I hope you're all ready to see how this one goes. Instead of the Owl House gang swapping bodies to see how everyone's situation is, we'll be exploring Luz's average day at the café after everything that happened recently.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Open for business.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>The Owl House is owned by Disney and was created by Dana Terrace</strong>
</p><hr/><p>Luz was curled up in her sleeping bag and was peacefully dreaming before the sound of an owl hooting woke her up. Opening her eyes slowly, she saw Hooty standing next to her. "Morning, Hooty," Luz greeted the barn owl before getting up. As she stretched, the bird flew out of the window and perched on the mailbox just as the mailman left. "That bird might get in your face, but he really seems like he wants to help," Luz commented as she watched Hooty bring the mail into the café. "Hey, I wonder why Eda doesn't have a collar for him to talk like King?"</p><p>The dog growled a little at the mention of his collar and Hooty. "Oh, she tried once. It was a horrible mistake," King said. "That horrible voice!"</p><p>"It couldn't have been that bad," Luz remarked as she picked up King.</p><p>"It was," he exclaimed. "But that's not important now. Your King needs food," he declared. "Onward, my servant!"</p><p>Luz only chuckled as she started to handle her morning chores for the café. After feeding and cleaning up after the animals, Luz made herself some breakfast while Eda managed to walk into the kitchen. "Morning, Eda," the girl greeted as she poured her boss some coffee.</p><p>The Owl Lady only yawned before she took a sip of her drink. "Ah, thank you, Luz," Eda said as she enjoyed her morning caffeine. "Did you make sure to feed the animals?"</p><p>"Kinda hard not to when you hear a lot of meowing when coming downstairs," Luz remarked, then felt something on her leg. Looking down, she saw an orange tabby with yellow patches on the side of her face that resembled other cat heads. "Did you sneak out of the play area before I closed the door, Hecate," Luz questioned as she picked up the cat and held it in her arms.</p><p>"Why did you even name it after that character in your flowery book," Eda questioned as she finished her coffee.</p><p>"Because I felt like it. Besides, we have Otabin, too," Luz remarked as she went to put the feline back and check up on the newest animal of the café. After she made sure the bunny was comfortable, Luz took out the garbage and saw a pair of familiar faces arriving at the café. "Willow! Gus!"</p><p>"Hi, Luz," Gus said while Willow happily greeted her friend in Korean.</p><p>"Anything planned for the Hexsquad in school," Luz asked.</p><p>"Hexsquad," Willow questioned.</p><p>"I just thought it would be a fun little nickname for us," Luz explained. "Like 'Super Pal Trio' or 'Team Avatar'. You like it?" Gus and Willow enthusiastically nodded before their stomachs growled. "I guess you two skipped breakfast," Luz remarked.</p><p>"I was studying for a test later this morning and forgot to eat," Willow explained.</p><p>"And I overslept," Gus added.</p><p>"Come on in, then. We can get you something for the walk there," Luz told her friends as she invited them into the café.</p><p>Entering the building and hearing Hooty hoot at their arrival, Eda turned to see Luz bringing her friends inside. "Well, you two are here early," Eda remarked as King sat by her feet.</p><p>"We're just here for something to eat on our way to school," Willow explained.</p><p>"Alright. Any customer is better than none," Eda remarked as she grabbed some muffins and scones to give the two. "Okay, kids. Here you go."</p><p>"Thank you, Miss Owl Lady," Gus said as he and Willow paid for their breakfast.</p><p>"Have fun surviving that prison of education," Eda said as the students left.</p><p>Luz only rolled her eye playfully as she went back to doing work. Cleaning off the tables, she soon heard another person enter when Hooty cried out. "Welcome to Palisman Café," Luz greeted.</p><hr/><p>Throughout the day, Luz continued working and was soon making deliveries in Bonesborough with King following her around like when she was first working at the café. Thankfully, she got used to the heavy bag of items and was able to carry it around easier than before. "Looks like you're losing your 'weak nerd arms', Luz," King stated as they dropped off somebody's lunch order.</p><p>"All these deliveries and feeding the animals in the café are actually better for me than I thought," Luz stated.</p><p>"That's good to know. You can be the general of my army, then. They'll all cower before your massive, meaty hands," King declared.</p><p>Looking at her hands, Luz frowned as she looked at the dog. "They aren't that big," she told the dog. "You're just tiny. A tiny, fuzzy baby."</p><p>"One with teeth," King responded with an irritated tone, reminding Luz he could bite.</p><p>"You wouldn't do that to your favorite human," Luz told him, making the dog sigh and agree. Suddenly, Luz's phone started to ring and she checked who it was. Seeing it was her mother, she answered immediately. "Hola, Mami."</p><p>"Hola, Luz. I was wondering how work was going," Camilia said.</p><p>"Just doing some deliveries for Eda. People around town tend to be busy and can't get to the café in person," Luz explained.</p><p>"Are you handling yourself well?"</p><p>"Oh yeah, I'm doing fine," Luz said before she felt something hit her back and she shrieked.</p><p>"Mija, what happened," Camilia frantically asked.</p><p>Luz looked behind herself and saw Boscha tossing a water balloon in her hand while several other students from Hexside snickered. "It's nothing, Mom. Just a bully throwing water balloons at me because she thinks she's better than everyone," Luz said as she simply walked away, confusing King.</p><p>"Luz, why don't you just go and get revenge," King loudly questioned.</p><p>"Who was that," Camilia asked as she heard King's 'voice'.</p><p>"Just a friend, Mami. He thinks I should fight back against that bully, but I'll just ignore her," Luz told her mother.</p><p>"That was a good choice, Luz. Hopefully, you won't see that girl around the café," Camilia said.</p><p>"And even if she did show up, I don't think Eda or the animals would like her," Luz added with a snicker.</p><p>Camilia was about to continue speaking, but Luz heard her name being called for something and assumed she was still at work. "Cariño, I'll have to call you back. Te quiero," she said.</p><p>"Yo también te quiero. I also made a new friend a while ago, so I'll tell you about her later," Luz responded before ending the call.</p><p>King sighed as he looked at Luz. "If that girl shows up at the café, I'm biting her," he stated.</p><p>"I won't stop you," Luz replied as she went on the continue her deliveries.</p><hr/><p>Returning to the café, Luz and King were greeted by Hooty as Eda gave a cup of coffee to a woman and a bubble tea to her child. "I tell you, this new boba stuff is a great addition," Eda said to Luz as she saw the girl.</p><p>"You can thank Willow for the suggestion," Luz stated.</p><p>"Well, I'm sure she'll stop by again today," Eda remarked just before the door opened up and Hooty hooted. "Ah, speak of the devil."</p><p>Turning around, Luz smiled as she saw Willow enter the café alone. "Willow," Luz exclaimed as she ran up to hug her friend. "Where's Gus?"</p><p>"He had a club meeting and couldn't make it to the café yet. If anything, he could tell them about it," Willow explained. "There's only three other members, but I'm sure they'd like to stop by."</p><p>"Any business is better than no business," Eda remarked. "Just as long as they don't upset the animals," she added before Hooty called out again.</p><p>The three girls turned to see Amity Blight entering the café. Luz smiled at the girl's arrival, but Willow turned away in annoyance when she saw her former friend. "Hi, Amity," Luz greeted. "Welcome to Palisman Café. What would you like?"</p><p>"Hi, Luz," Amity greeted in a friendly tone when she saw the girl. "I think I'll just see Otabin again while I do some studying," she explained. As Luz gestured for the green-haired girl to follow her, Amity saw Willow turn away from her, upsetting the Blight. When she sat on the couch, the sight of the pink rabbit started to cheer Amity up. "I could actually go for a drink, too. What's your recommendation," Amity asked.</p><p>Luz immediately went to get a drink menu while Amity gently pet the rabbit on her lap. When Luz returned, she gave Amity the menu and spoke up. "Try the bubble tea. It's really good and you won't risk spilling it on your book or Otabin," Luz suggested. Amity browsed the menu and decided on a flavor before she focused on her studies. Luz soon made her way to the counter and decided to make the drink herself. After a few minutes, Luz was able to mix the flavors and put a seal on the cup before poking the straw through. "Here you go," Luz said as she brought the drink to Amity.</p><p>"Thanks," Amity said as she enjoyed a sip of the drink before continuing her reading.</p><p>When Luz returned to Eda and Willow, the latter spoke up. "How are you actually getting along with her," Willow questioned. "Back when we were having our sleepover, you couldn't stand the fact she was leaving me out."</p><p>"Plus, she smashed my cupcake," King exclaimed as he still remembered the events of the job fair.</p><p>"There was something that happened at the library a few days ago," Luz explained. "I met her siblings and to make a long story short, I found out Amity's not exactly what she seems at first glance."</p><p>"You met Edric and Emira," Willow asked in surprise as a cat climbed onto her, which she soon started to pet.</p><p>"They're actually fun to hang out with," Luz said as the café was nearly empty and the only customer remaining was Amity.</p><p>"That's debatable," Amity said as she could hear the conversation. "But speaking of that sleepover, how did you make Boscha freak out over a walking house?"</p><p>"Oh, Gus has this hologram projector that let us do it. The twins had their own as well," Luz stated.</p><p>"Of course, they do," Amity muttered to herself as she returned to her book. "Those two just love to mess with people."</p><p>Suddenly, the door to the café swung open and Hooty cried out in surprise before dramatic music began playing. Luz immediately recognized it as the theme music for Team Rocket from the Pokémon anime and soon heard two familiar voices.</p><p>"Prepare for trouble!"</p><p>"And make it double!"</p><p>"To face deadly sins such as greed!"</p><p>"To bring a laugh to those in need!"</p><p>"To mess around with our sister, Mittens!"</p><p>"Who, by the way, sneezes like kittens!"</p><p>"Emira!"</p><p>"Edric!"</p><p>"The Blight Twins appear with such a fright!"</p><p>"Try and stop us, you're in for a fight!"</p><p>Seeing her older siblings make that sort of entrance, Amity's face turned bright red in anger as she spoke to them. "I do not sneeze like a kitten," she exclaimed before she felt a twitch in her nose and ended up sneezing at the same time as the cat Willow was petting did.</p><p>Hearing the similar sneezes, Luz and Willow chuckled at the timing while Eda figuratively laughed her head off. "That's almost as adorable as King's squeak of rage," Eda remarked as she wiped away a tear.</p><p>Ignoring Eda's mention of King and deciding to find out about it later, Luz turned back to the twins. "Hey, guys. What are you doing here? And how many times have you done that entrance before," she asked.</p><p>"Hi Luz," the twins greeted together when they saw her.</p><p>"We saw Mittens coming this way instead of going to the library," Edric stated. "And we've been doing that joke for a few years."</p><p>"After the whole 'incident' there, we wanted to make sure she wasn't up to anything bad," Emira explained.</p><p>"Hello, pot and kettle. I'd like you to meet cauldron," Amity dryly told the twins as she gave a twist on the old saying 'pot calling the kettle black', which made Luz and Eda snicker more.</p><p>"We also wanted to apologize for that whole thing again," Emira added.</p><p>Luz tilted her head in confusion as she looked at Amity. "They've been super nice and apologetic ever since you stopped them from getting my diary," the youngest Blight explained to her friend.</p><p>"And we still apologize every day," Edric added as he leaned next to his younger sister. "Luz was right. That was a line we shouldn't have crossed."</p><p>"Still not off the hook," Amity stated as she pushed Edric to the floor, then put a hand on Otabin as the boy yelped like a dog at the shove.</p><p>As Emira picked her twin brother up from the ground, Luz returned to her job. "So, can I get you two anything while you're here?"</p><p>"What's the 'Witch's Brew'? It sounds interesting," Emira questioned.</p><p>"Oh, that's the new name for our coffee," Luz explained. "I've been getting good at making art with them."</p><p>"Really," the twins asked in intrigue. "We'll take two," they said together.</p><p>After getting their orders, Luz went to work and prepared the drinks for them. As she did, Luz drew owls in the foam of the drinks. "Here you go," Luz said as she gave the twins their drinks. Edric and Emira were impressed and immediately took photos of their orders and the rest of the café.</p><hr/><p>For the rest of the day, Luz was talking with her friends about a number of things. Mainly art, music, books, Hexside classes, and various shows. "I swear, you'd love this series, Amity," Luz said as she showed the youngest Blight clips of Kamen Rider on her phone. "The new one focuses on magic, books, and swordsmen! It'll be awesome," Luz exclaimed.</p><p>"I'll take your word for it," Amity said as she watched the action-packed trailer of a dragon-themed swordsman fighting monsters with a sword of flames. "It would help to know how these characters fight if we face off in Dimensional Duel again," Amity added as she remembered Luz dominating the second round at the convention.</p><p>"Those effects look really cool," Edric remarked as he and Emira leaned on Amity's shoulders to watch the video, unwittingly pushing her down.</p><p>"If you like that, then check out some of the transformations of the heroes in some of the other shows," Luz remarked as she pulled up a video of the various transformation sequences.</p><p>Impressed by the variety, the twins looked at each other with smirks. "Give us some time and we'll make it so you can be one of these guys," Emira stated, making Luz gasp in excitement.</p><p>Amity could swear that she saw stars forming in Luz's eyes as she gasped. "Could you make me into Azura, too," Luz asked the twins.</p><p>Edric and Emira only laughed at Luz's contagious enthusiasm. "I swear, you're probably the biggest fan of those books since Mittens," Edric said.</p><p>"We'll see what we can do," Emira told the girl. "We've got to get going now. This place is nice, though. It would be fun to stop by again."</p><p>"Sounds good to me," Eda said happily as she overheard the conversation.</p><p>As the Blights all started to leave, they waved to Luz as they passed by Willow, who only turned away from Amity and loudly drank her bubble tea. As she passed by, Amity looked at her feet with a despondent expression that went unnoticed by everyone. "You still owe me a cupcake," King exclaimed as Amity exited the café.</p><p>When the café's only remaining customer was Willow, Luz went to speak with her best friend. "Hey, it's not like Amity's actively belittling you while she's here," Luz told the Korean girl.</p><p>"I still don't like how she just left me and has to be Little Miss Perfect now," Willow stated, still bitter about her past friendship with Amity. "I don't want to talk about it now," she said as she finished her drink and threw the empty cup away. "I'll see you tomorrow, Luz."</p><p>"Okay. Goodnight, Willow," Luz said as her friend left the building and Eda closed the shop.</p><p>"I know from experience that some people are usually stubborn about their secrets. Unless this comes up again without prompting, don't get involved," Eda told Luz. "I'm sure your mom would say the same thing."</p><p>Luz had to agree with Eda, so she decided to not worry about Amity and Willow's friendship at the moment. "So, you think that we'll get more customers," Luz asked.</p><p>"Probably," Eda guessed. "If those twins were anything like I was back in school, then they'd tell everyone about this place."</p><p>"Well, I guess we'll find out later," Luz remarked.</p><p>"If that's the case, take care of cleaning the place up while I make dinner," Eda stated.</p><p>Luz nodded as she went back to work. Cleaning off tables, making sure the animals were safe and sound, and other tasks just as Eda finished cooking. "Another day done," Luz said as she sat down in the kitchen and served herself some rice.</p><p>"I want meat," King declared as he looked at Luz and Eda with big and soulful eyes, as if he was from an anime.</p><p>"So cute," Luz said in a small trance before Eda flicked her forehead and bopped King on the nose.</p><p>"Weh! I'm hungry," King told the two.</p><p>"I thought kings don't beg," Eda joked as she got some food for herself.</p><p>King only fussed before Luz gave him some food and everyone enjoyed their dinner in peace. "Well, I'm sure tomorrow will be another eventful day," Luz said before Eda turned on a TV in the kitchen so the three could watch some shows for the rest of the night.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>Okay, I think with this done, we've got enough for what replaces "Once Upon A Swap". I hope you enjoyed the scenes with Luz and everyone. I know I enjoyed writing up that entrance of Edric and Emira. I just thought that would have been in-character for them and Amity's reaction was perfect to add to it.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>With this chapter done, I think that I can start adapting the next episode. That way, Luz can check out Hexside more. Not only that, but I can also have it lead into the other thing I want to do with Luz's friends, which she has now dubbed 'The Hexsquad'.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Until next time, WaterDragonMaverick signing out.</strong>
</p>
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<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Deceptive Day at Hexside</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Hey, readers. WaterDragonMaverick here with the next installment of "Palisman Café". Last time, Luz enjoyed her new average day at her summer job since coming to Bonesborough. With friends in and out of the café, Luz is liking her summer so far. But now, we'll be having her go someplace else. I think it's time that we returned to Hexside for her to see her friends and how they're doing in their summer school classes.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Class is in session.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>The Owl House is owned by Disney and was created by Dana Terrace</strong>
</p><hr/><p>At Hexside School of Arts and Science, the students were going about their usual business now that their main summer classes ended. Many were either heading home or spending time with their friends, but others were studying or attending clubs. One such club was the Unidentified Mysterious Animal Society, which Augustus Porter was the president of. "The wonders of the unknown," he said as he put several pictures on a desk for his fellow club members to look at while wearing a prop crown labeled 'President'. "The Chupacabra of Mexico. The Loch Ness Monster in Scotland. Bigfoot himself. All are creatures believed to be fakes, but only because most people don't keep an open mind or find the details," he states to his peers. "Any questions?"</p><p>The group of four people all had different expressions before a boy wearing a Construction Track uniform raised his hand. "Yeah, Augustus. Is this really what we should be talking about? All these common cryptids that we already know about," the boy said dismissively.</p><p>"Mattholomule, I was using them as examples because you're the newest member of our club," Gus stated to the older boy. "We'll be moving onto more obscure cryptids to talk about. Such as the Owlman, Cherufe, and Hibagon."</p><p>"Well, I don't need to discuss stuff like that because there was something I had at my old school that you don't have here," Mattholomule stated as he threw the pictures off the desk. As Gus grabbed them, the older boy dumped the contents of his bag onto the desk. "Actual evidence."</p><p>The other three members of the club gasped as they looked at several items Mattholumule revealed. An apparent skull of a small cryptid, a bag of black scales, and a large tooth-like object. A girl with freckles and a blue Hexside uniform named Bo was the first to speak. "So real. I wanna touch them," she said.</p><p>"Go ahead," Mattholomule responded. "In my club, we didn't have any dumb rules about not seeing things for ourselves."</p><p>Hearing the boy, Gus gasped before looking at the list of rules for the UMAS on the chalkboard behind him. "Shh. He didn't mean that," Gus told the rules as he treated them like an actual person. When he did, he started collecting the items that his club members were checking out, much to their annoyance. "Thankfully, this isn't <em>your </em>club," Gus stated as he slammed the bag he held down and a crunching noise was heard from it.</p><p>"Exactly," Mattholomule retorted before facing the others. "Who here thinks I should be the club president?"</p><p>The two girls eagerly agreed, but the other boy said he was undecided. Hearing what they were saying about possibly being voted out, Gus was worried as he held the 'cryptid skull'. As he did, he noticed something about it. "Wait a minute. These are fakes," Gus said before slamming the skull on the table, revealing it to just be a painted egg. "Ugh, should have done that over a sink," Gus muttered to himself while the others gasped in shock at the egg yolk coating the kid's hand.</p><p>"Matt, how could you," a girl with a yellow Hexside uniform and an eyepatch named Eileen asked.</p><p>Mattholomule saw everyone's expressions, but calmed down before explaining himself. "How else was I supposed to lure this one creature that my family's been tracking," he said, getting everyone's attention again. "We've moved around so much because we've been following this one cryptid for quite a while," he said as he pulled out a newspaper clipping to show everyone.</p><p>As the UMAS looked at the photo of a blurry animalistic shape, Gus was still suspicious and felt that the older boy was lying. "I don't believe you," Gus stated. "Besides, this isn't even in English," he added as he took the paper and inspected it closer.</p><p>"You're just saying that because you're afraid of getting kicked out of office," Mattholomule stated. "It's your word against mine."</p><p>The members of the club discussed the conflict happening while Gus kept investigating the paper and realized that the text was in Spanish. Realizing this, Gus smiled as he figured out who could help him. "What if I brought in a translator," he told the Unidentified Mysterious Animal Society, catching everyone's attention while Mattholomule dismissed it.</p><p>"Oh please, who could you bring in to translate that," Matt questioned as the UMAS President put the clipping on the chalkboard with some tape.</p><p>"A friend of mine I made earlier in the summer," Gus stated. "She's been busy at her job, but I can have her visit to help out tomorrow. All to prove the existence of the unknown."</p><p>"Sure you will, Augustus," Mattholomule said as Gus became worried at his tone.</p><hr/><p>At Palisman Café, Gus explained the situation to Luz and Eda while having a cup of hot chocolate. "Gus, I'd love to come to school and help you, but things have been getting busier lately for some reason," Luz told her younger friend.</p><p>"Besides, there's nothing for you in that dweebus factory," Eda said to Luz before looking at Gus. "No offense, Dweebus."</p><p>"It's okay," Gus replied. "I come from a long line of dweebuses."</p><p>"I thought you said your dad was a reporter," Luz questioned. "That's actually a cool job."</p><p>"He's still a nerd like me," Gus stated. "Why else name me Augustus?"</p><p>"Good point," Luz remarked. "Anyway, I'd come and help if I wasn't helping out Eda."</p><p>Seeing that Luz did want to help her friend, Eda rolled her eyes before speaking to her. "I can close the café for a bit and have a day off for myself while you go help Dweebus in the bane of my teenage years. Just make sure to stick it to that jerk he's talking about," she said.</p><p>"Really!? Thank you, Eda," Luz exclaimed as she gave the older woman a big hug, catching her off-guard and making something fall out of Luz's pocket.</p><p>"Knock it off and go take care of all the animals before I change my mind," Eda stated as she freed herself from Luz's arms.</p><p>"Okay," Luz said as she went to check on all the animals in Palisman. "See you tomorrow, Gus!"</p><p>"Bye, Luz," the boy replied before leaving the café. After he closed the door, Gus cheered to himself and did a little victory dance as he made his way home. "You did it, Gus! You're the best!"</p><p>Seeing the 12-year old celebrate, Eda only rolled her eyes with a smirk. "Let's hope he can stick it to that kid," the woman said before hearing a ringtone. Looking on the ground, Eda saw Luz's phone fell out of her pocket when hugging her earlier. Picking it up and seeing it was Camila, Eda answered the video call. "You've reached Palisman Café. Luz can't come to the phone right now because she's being smothered by adorable little animals," Eda jokes as she saw Camilia's face.</p><p>"Hello, Eda," Camila replied. "I take it that was my answer as to where Luz is?"</p><p>"Yup. Had her check on the animals since she's going to help a friend with something for a club," Eda explained.</p><p>"I'm so glad that she's making new friends here. But I'm worried about when the summer's over and she has to come home," Camila said with a smile before it turned to a frown.</p><p>"Yeah. I know I'll probably miss the kid. She's been helping out quite a bit and things are always entertaining with her around," Eda admits.</p><p>Camila smiled as she heard how her daughter was doing at Palisman Café. "If that's the case, I'm sure she doesn't want to leave either. But she does have to return to school in Fall, even if she's been in trouble there quite a few times. I'm not even sure if her classmates will want her back after everything that happened."</p><p>"Oh yeah, Luz told me about that. Fake guts in an audition, spider breath griffin, cheerleading tryouts, and snakes with her book report," Eda listed with a laugh. "I know I was a bit of a troublemaker in school, but she's just quirky. Her friends actually like that about her."</p><p>"I'm sure that they'd want her to stay as well," Camila voiced. "But I'm not sure if there's anything to do about that."</p><p>Listening to the nurse, Eda sighed as she realized what she had to do to make Luz happy. "I think I know how I can make sure Luz is happy before summer vacation's over," Eda stated, prompting Camila to listen carefully.</p><hr/><p>The next morning, Gus was speaking to Willow outside of Hexside as they waited for Luz. "I'm glad that Luz was able to stop by today and you didn't lie to her about anything," Willow told her friend.</p><p>"I just want to prove that Mattholomule is the liar," Gus stated. "And since the UMAS doesn't have its meeting until this afternoon, I can show Luz around while you're in class."</p><p>"Are you sure this boy is trouble," Willow questioned.</p><p>"You don't understand. The members were going mad. They were bloodthirsty. They were touching objects. I had no choice but to call him out," Gus exclaimed.</p><p>"What about Campus Security?"</p><p>"As long as Luz doesn't do anything that would give her detention as a student, she'll be fine," Gus stated.</p><p>"What about detention," Luz questioned as she arrived at Hexside with her bag over her shoulder.</p><p>"Oh, nothing," Gus said before he reached into his own bag and grabbed something. "Oh, and wear this," he told Luz as he handed her a cowl from the Hexside uniforms. "We'll keep you as a surprise until the club meeting starts."</p><p>"A little showmanship, huh? I totally get it," Luz says as she wears the cowl with the hood up. "You bring the razzle, I'll bring the dazzle," she says as she opens her hands to spread some confetti from a little presentation.</p><p>Seeing Luz being her usual quirky self, Gus and Willow were silent for a moment before the Korean girl spoke. "Do you always have confetti on you or..."</p><p>Suddenly, a ringing sound went off and Gus checked his watch, which resembled a one-eyed demon. Turning off the alarm, he turned to Luz. "School's about to start. Let's go inside and give you the tour," Gus told Luz as he took her by the wrist and guided her. "See you after school, Willow."</p><p>"Bye, friend. Be safe. Make good choices," Luz told Willow as they passed by her.</p><p>While Willow went off to her homeroom, Gus and Willow soon walked through the halls of Hexside before seeing a pair of boys playing 'Monkey in the Middle' with a third boy's backpack. Soon, a pair of men wearing guard uniforms grabbed the troublemakers and dragged them away as they reacted in fear. "Who are they," Luz questioned as she pointed to the guards.</p><p>"Campus Security," Gus explained. "Since your last visit, Principal Bump had them step up their work. They smell trouble and anybody who gets caught by them is taken to detention."</p><p>"Yeesh. Good thing I'm here as a guest," Luz said before Gus took her hand and guided her down another hall.</p><p>"You shouldn't do anything that would send you to the principal's office," Gus told Luz as he looked at her, not paying attention to where he was going and bumping into somebody at a water fountain.</p><p>As the contents of Gus' bag spilled out, the young boy was quick to collect everything before seeing his presidential crown prop rolled to the feet of who knocked him down. "Augustus, you should really watch where you going," Mattholomule stated as he gave a sinister smirk and picked up the crown. "Don't want the president of the UMAS getting hurt on his last day in office," he added, mocking Gus further before seeing Luz help him up. "This must be your translator. Hmm. Looks like a regular girl to me," he said as he got in Luz's face.</p><p>"¡Oye! ¡Fuera de mi cara, asqueroso," Luz exclaimed in Spanish as she shoved Mattholomule aside, making him drop Gus' crown as he gasped in shock.</p><p>"She speaks Spanish," Matt squeaked out.</p><p>"And English," Gus added.</p><p>"And some Japanese from anime and tokusatsu shows," Luz admitted. "I'm a nerd like that. Hey, maybe Willow could teach me some Korean."</p><p>"Wouldn't hurt to ask later," Gus said to his friend as he picked up his crown. "But first, she's here to authenticate that newspaper you brought yesterday. See you at the meeting," he told Mattholomule smugly, knowing that he would be able to prove he was right about the would-be usurper.</p><p>Mattolomule leaned against the lockers and talked to himself as the weight of the situation finally hit him. "Oh, no, no, no, no! They can't know I lied. Then they'll never make me president," he muttered to himself before overhearing Luz and Gus again.</p><p>"As I was saying, we better not do anything that could get you in trouble with Campus Security or Principal Bump," Gus stated.</p><p>"I've learned my lessons about that from my last school year," Luz replied.</p><p>Thinking about what to do, Mattholomule had an evil grin on his face as he laughed to himself. "I have you now."</p><hr/><p>At the entrance of Hexside, Eda groaned as she looked at the building. "I've had this nightmare before," she muttered to herself. "At least I'm wearing clothes and not being chased by a giant bathtub of cockroaches this time," she said as she remembered one of her dreams involving school.</p><p>Walking through the halls, Eda made her way to Principal Bump's office and knocked on the door. When the old man answered, he looked at Eda with a neutral expression. "Edalyn. To what do I owe the pleasure of another visit," the principal said as he gestured for the silver-haired woman to have a seat.</p><p>"You know, it's a little weird to be sitting here after so long. Usually, you were yelling at me for picking fights or stealing," Eda joked while balancing a pencil on her upper lip while leaning back in the chair.</p><p>"What are you doing here, Edalyn," Bump asked again as he pressed a button on his desk, causing the front legs of the chair to be magnetically sealed to the floor and startling Eda.</p><p>Blowing her hair out of her face, Eda got to the point. "I want to enroll Luz Noceda at Hexside. I've already spoken with her mother and she asked me to do so while she applies for a new job in Bonesborough," Eda stated. "Now before you judge me abou-"</p><p>"That's not a bad idea," Principal Bump said, interrupting Eda. "Ever since her first visit, Willow Park has been excelling in her Botany Track classwork. If that's what she could do for one student, imagine if she were to join Hexside for the remainder of the summer program before attending normal classes in the Fall semester."</p><p>Eda was surprised at Bump's agreement, but smiled as the elderly man stood up. "Well, I'm glad that we could talk this through."</p><p>"Yes, I think the student body could learn a lot from having such an exchange student," Bump stated as he took a collection of files from a cabinet. "But before I even consider that, there's a lot to be answered for."</p><p>"I thought the Automaton incident was handled already," Eda questioned before Bump returned to his desk.</p><p>"Oh, I'm not talking about Luz," Bump explained. "I'm talking about the dissected animal displays, the graffiti, the scams, the cheating, Miss Jenkinmeyer's teeth," he listed, making Eda sink down in her chair like she was a guilty teenager at Hexside once again. "The trouble you caused when you were here, Eda," he said as he dropped the gathered files in front of the woman, showing that it was all her permanent record from her days as a student.</p><p>Looking it over, Eda only had one thing to say. "Huh. I thought there'd be more."</p><hr/><p>After their confrontation with Mattholomule, Gus and Luz were taking near a trophy case on an upper floor. "As president of the UMAS, I should feel bad about dunking on one of our own members. But as a Gus, I feel like doing this," the boy said before doing another victory dance and singing to himself.</p><p>As he did this, Luz was checking out the trophy case in awe. "Wow!" Looking at the various sports trophies and academic achievements, Luz even saw some for other categories. "Who got the trophy for the most broken bones," she asked Gus as a guard noticed her and tilted their head curiously.</p><p>"Maybe we should get to the club room so you know where it is," Gus remarked as he pulled Luz away from the glass. "Besides, that trophy case isn't the strongest and we don't want you getting in trouble."</p><p>"Okay," Luz said dejectedly as her question was never answered. "But you better give me the tour later since I'm here."</p><p>"Promise," Gus told her.</p><p>Soon, they were about to turn into another hallway when Luz recognized somebody familiar. "Oh hey, it's the Automaton professor," she pointed out. "I should introduce myself and apologize for the incident," she told Gus before walking over to the diminutive teacher. "Hey, Mr. Automaton Professor. Remember me," Luz said as she caught the man's attention, then started posing like she did when she was passing herself off as Willow's project.</p><p>Seeing the familiar pose, the teacher noticed how familiar Luz looked to him. "Ah, I thought you were recognizable," he said as he remembered that day.</p><p>"Yeah, I just wanted to apologize for everything back then. I'm Luz Noceda," Luz said as Gus stood to the side. "I only wanted to help Willow that day and I didn't mean for Amity to get in trouble with you."</p><p>"Everything's been settled from that day," the professor explained. "I've heard Willow has been doing much better with the Botany Track's assignments and Amity's been showing she's still Top Student material."</p><p>"That's great," Luz cheered as she heard her friends were doing well in class.</p><p>The teacher only chuckled as he felt Luz's infectious positivity. "I can tell you would be an eager student if you attended Hexside, Miss Noceda," the teacher remarked. "Now if you'll excuse me, I must go grade some papers."</p><p>"Okay, bye," Luz told the short man as he walked off.</p><p>"That went better than I expected," Gus voiced before checking his watch. "We still have time until the club meeting. Let's take that tour," he told Luz.</p><p>"Yes! Let's go," Luz exclaimed as she and Gus went off.</p><p>Making their way outside, she and Gus sat in the bleachers next to a basketball court. "Here's one of the school's many sporting areas," Gus explained as Luz looked around. "We might be a school for nerds, but we need to keep active." Luz checked the stands and saw two other girls sitting down to watch another pair on the court with a dodgeball in front of them. Luz recognized the one girl with a yellow Hexside uniform as Boscha, groaning as she remembered her bullying from before. Looking at the other girl with red sleeves and leggings, Luz thought she was familiar as well.</p><p>"Okay, here's what I'll do. Off the backboard, punch the ball, and send it flying back for nothing but net," the girl in red told Boscha before running up to kick the ball while the bully recorded the trick shot attempt. When the Music Track student's foot made contact, the ball flew toward the basketball hoop and bounced off the backboard. However, the angle was wrong and it started to ricochet off of the bleachers and ground before reaching her. Trying to do what she claimed, she threw a punch at the ball, but only hit air as she missed the timing and the last thing she saw was red rubber flying at her. On the ground in pain, the girl moaned as she held her eye. "I hate this game," she muttered while Boscha laughed at the video she recorded.</p><p>When Boscha walked away, Luz and the others in the bleachers went down to see if the other girl was alright. "You okay," Luz asked as she offered her hand to help the girl up.</p><p>"Yeah," the red-clad student told her. "I've been through worse."</p><p>"Hold on, I've got some ice water on me," Luz said before reaching into her bag, causing a few things to fall out when she kept digging around, prompting the other two girls to check the cards on the ground. "Here you go," she told the girl as she gave the bottle of water to her.</p><p>"Thanks," she said as she held the bottle against her eye. "I'm Skara."</p><p>"I'm Luz," the Dominican girl replied, introducing herself.</p><p>"Nice to meet you, Luz," Skara happily said before the two other girls offered to take her to the nurse. "I'll probably see you around later."</p><p>"Okay, see you, Skara. I hope we can be friends," Luz said cheerfully as Skara left with the other girls.</p><p>"Bo, don't forget about the meeting later," Gus said to one of the girls taking Skara, prompting her to turn with a thumbs-up.</p><p>"One of your club members," Luz asked as she looked at Gus.</p><p>"Yeah, you'll get to talk with her later," he said. "Come on, I'll show you some of the homerooms next."</p><hr/><p>Back inside the school, Eda groaned as Principal Bump showed her a set of lockers that were covered in graffiti. "I don't wanna do this," she complained.</p><p>"There's the whiny rebel teen I remember all those years ago," Bump said in amusement before handing Eda a mop. "You'll need this to clean up your graffiti you left us. Also, lots of elbow grease."</p><p>"I feel like if I use that, my hands will come off," Eda remarked.</p><p>"Good luck," Bump said with a laugh as he walked off, leaving Eda to clean up her artwork from when she was 14.</p><p>After blowing a raspberry at the elderly principal, Eda got to work scrubbing and didn't see Luz passing by with Gus. Making their way through the school hallways again, they came across a room with tons of plants, including fully grown trees. "Ooh. What's in here," Luz asked as she saw the various flora.</p><p>"The Botany Track Homeroom," Gus explained. "Everyone likes to call it 'The Greenhouse' for short."</p><p>Luz peered through the window of the door to see several students taking care of the plants. She also recognized a girl with green hair that helped Skara off the basketball court. As the girl was writing down some notes, Willow walked up to see how she was doing before pointing out something. "You misspelled the scientific name of this flower, Amelia," Willow helpfully showed.</p><p>As the girl thanked her classmate, Luz smiled when she saw her friend. "Willow, hey," Luz called out from the door. When Willow turned and saw her friend, she smiled and waved as Gus popped into view as well.</p><p>"Hi," Gus greeted. "Come on, Luz. I want to show you more," he said before leaving the vicinity of the Greenhouse and reaching another room. "And this is where I spend my time. The Entertainment Track Homeroom."</p><p>Looking around, Luz saw posters of various celebrities, directors, and even shows decorating the classroom. She also saw a number of mirrors, computers, and several other things before noticing a trio of students showing their latest projects to their teacher. "Hi, guys," Luz said as she easily noticed the green hair of Edric and Emira Blight.</p><p>"Hi, Luz," the twins greeted before they showed off their projects to their teacher. Emira created a projection of herself with longer legs while Edric created a hologram of himself as a handsome prince. "Oh, wait," both twins exclaimed before they put a flash drive into a third projector nearby since their classmate was nervous. Putting in the commands, the twins created a version of Luz that wore a unique belt on her waist.</p><p>Seeing the item, Luz gasped with stars in her eyes as she knew what was happening. The hologram of Luz soon took a held a bat-shaped item that soon bit her hand while the belt started to make sounds. "HENSHIN," the hologram shouted before placing the bat on the belt and armor formed on her body.</p><p>Everyone watched in amazement as the twins' projection changed from Luz into an armored figure with a bat-shaped helmet. "Oh my gosh! You made me into Kamen Rider Kiva! That's so cool," Luz gushed as the twins smiled.</p><p>"Hey, you showed us those scenes," Edric remarked. "Personally, I think an owl theme would have made more sense."</p><p>"We couldn't find one, though. It would have taken much longer to do one from scratch," Emira added.</p><p>"In any case, the two of you earned an A+ for that amazing effects display," the teacher said as she gave the twins their grades. The Blight twins smirked before they high-fived each other. "Augustus, I'm glad to see you helping your friend around. Make sure to turn in your homework from last night," the Entertainment teacher said when she saw the boy.</p><p>"You're in this class," Luz asked as she thought Gus was a little young to be a high school junior. "Wow, you must be good."</p><p>"Yeah, I moved up a couple of grades. I'm actually in the freshman grade, though," Gus admitted before his watch alarm rang. "Oh, time for the UMAS meeting. We gotta go."</p><p>"Okay then," Luz said as Gus showed her the way. "Bye, Edric. Bye, Emira," she told the twins as they left her sight.</p><p>"Bye, Luz," the Blight siblings answered back while Luz was still in earshot.</p><hr/><p>In the Unidentified Mysterious Animal Society clubroom, the members of the club were excited to meet Luz. They would have kept chanting if Gus didn't start the meeting. "Unidentified Mysterious Animal Society, it is my distinct pleasure to introduce to you, Luz Noceda," Gus announced. At his declaration, Luz revealed herself and tossed some confetti into the air. "Her family is from the Dominican Republic, so she knows Spanish," Gus added.</p><p>"Yup. Raised knowing two different languages is pretty cool," Luz stated. "Then, I discovered anime and I started learning Japanese for fun because I'm a nerd. And proud of it!"</p><p>Everyone in the UMAS except for Mattholomule was amazed at Luz's statement. Seeing the newspaper clipping the aforementioned boy brought in, Gus took it and held it in his hands. "Luz, would you be so kind as to translate this apparent cryptid report," Gus asked.</p><p>"I'd be delighted to," Luz said as she reached for the paper. As she grabbed it, Mattholomule tried to make a jump for it and ripped it out of her hands. "Matt! What are you doing," Luz exclaimed along with the other UMAS members.</p><p>"Don't make another move," Mattholomule yelled as he jumped onto the table. "I have something to say," he then said in a more somber tone. "I'm new here at Hexside. M‐Making friends has been hard, so I lied. They're all fakes. Even the newspaper article," he admitted. Shocked at what he said, Bo and Eileen gasped while Gus' eyes widened at how the other boy was acting now. "I thought if I was important enough people would like me. But I've caused enough drama. So, I'll go. I'm sorry," Mattholomule told everyone.</p><p>As he was speaking, Luz and Gus looked at each other and realized they might have been wrong about Mattholomule. "Hey, man. It's okay," Luz voiced. "You're only human."</p><p>Gus nodded in agreement. "Mattholomule, you aren't alone. You have a place here in the UMAS," he stated with the other three members giving their own encouragement.</p><p>"Thanks, guys. I knew you'd understand," Mattholomule said.</p><p>Soon after, everyone spent the rest of the club meeting getting to know Luz and her thoughts on various cryptids. She was even able to show them a cartoon series about a family of scientists that studied cryptozoology while fighting a number of villains, which she previously showed Gus during their sleepover at Palisman Café before. Eventually, the meeting came to an end and Gus dismissed everyone. "That concludes today's meeting everyone. We'll talk about some of the show at the next one," Gus told the club members.</p><p>The three bid farewell to Luz and thanked her for visiting. Soon, it was only Mattholomule in the room with Gus and Luz. "Hey, Augustus, Luz, thanks for being so forgiving," he said to them.</p><p>"We've all been the new kid before. Right, Gus," Luz remarked.</p><p>"Yeah," the preteen agreed.</p><p>"Well, I just have one more thing to say," Mattholomule said before reaching into his pocket. "Catch," he shouted as he pulled out something and threw it at Luz. Reacting as fast as she could, the Latina caught the object and accidentally clicked a button on it. Hearing some beeping, a loud noise was heard, as if several firecrackers were popped all at once. After that, a pair of campus security guards that were covered in paint came bursting through the door. "There she is! She's the one that set it off," the older boy exclaimed as he pointed at Luz with a sinister glare on his face.</p><p>"WHAT," Luz and Gus both yelled before the guards saw the switch in Luz's hands.</p><p>"You're going to detention, troublemaker," the guard stated as they grabbed Luz, dragging her away while she could only call out her friend's name.</p><p>"Gus, help!"</p><p>"Luz," Gus cried out as Luz was forcefully escorted out of the room. Angry at what Mattholomule did, he turned to the boy and started yelling at him. "Why did you do that!?"</p><p>"I can't believe you two fell for that. Like I'd actually apologize," Mattholomule stated without a single care. As he spoke, Gus clenched his shaking fists and started grinding his teeth with barely restrained fury. "Ah, boo‐hoo. I'm sorry. 'I am the new kid'. 'I want friends'. Ha," Mattholomule said in a mocking tone with fake tears in his eyes. "No. I want power. And I want drama. And I got one of those right now," he stated before marching toward Gus, making him back up toward the wall. "So, what are you gonna do, Mr. President?"</p><p>Angry at the boy in front of him for framing his friend for a paint bomb, Gus pulled back his fist like he was ready to punch the boy in his smug face. "Executive action," Gus replied. But instead of throwing a punch, Gus pulled the fire alarm behind him and caused the sprinklers to go off. As the two were soaked with water, another guard arrived to see what was happening. Seeing the two boys and the pulled alarm, they grabbed them by the arms and dragged the two off, ignoring Mattholomule's protests.</p><p>As Willow was watering a few plants in the Botany Track homeroom, she saw Luz get dragged past while stated that she isn't even a student at Hexside. After a few more minutes, she watched as Gus got dragged away with Mattholomule protesting the entire time. "Oh no. I need to talk with Principal Bump," Willow said to herself before running off to find the principal, seeing the splatter of paint from several small paint bombs that went off.</p><hr/><p>In the Hexside cafeteria, the doors burst open and a few students watched as Eda was carrying a large burlap sack on her back before setting it down in front of Principal Bump. "There. The girl's changing room is now weasel-free," Eda stated as the sack started to move.</p><p>"I still don't know how you got so many of them in the locker room in the first place. Or how they managed to have so many children over the years," Bump muttered to himself before facing Eda again. "Are you ready to give up? You've only scratched the surface," he told Eda. The woman only growled at the elderly man before hearing the laughter of two girls nearby.</p><p>Bo and Skara were sitting at a table near the door where the former was showing the latter a few videos on her phone. Watching the two, Eda smiled. "Luz would love it here," she commented, remembering some of the fun times she had with her own friends at school in her youth. "Alright, what's next, Bumpikins," Eda said to the principal, who then held up a plunger.</p><p>As Eda groaned, Willow came running in through the doors. "Principal Bump! Something's happened," the Korean girl exclaimed.</p><p>"Willow, slow down," the elderly man told the girl as he handed Eda the plunger. "What's wrong?"</p><p>"Luz was taken to detention by campus security! I think she was framed for a paint bomb," the Botany student told the adults.</p><p>"What!? Luz would never do something like that," Eda shouted as she tossed the plunger aside, making it clatter against the floor. "Sure, she'd probably freak somebody out with snakes and spiders, but she wouldn't do property damage unless in a tight squeeze."</p><p>Hearing that Luz was mentioned, Bo and Skara were curious. "We met her earlier," Skara told Principal Bump. "She helped me after I hurt myself. I don't think she'd be a delinquent prankster like that."</p><p>"I just saw her at the UMAS meeting before," Bo added. "She's a sweet girl."</p><p>Listening to everyone talk about Luz, Principal Bump hummed in contemplation. "I'll go and investigate for myself," he said. "Edalyn, come along. You too, Willow." Eda and Willow went along and soon reached the lockers where the paint bomb went off. "Have you seen Luz walk through this hallway earlier, Willow," he asked the girl.</p><p>"Yes, but she was with Gus the whole time. I saw him and some other boy get dragged off for pulling the fire alarm," Willow answered. "I think he was trying to see why Luz got framed."</p><p>"Sounds like the other kid was responsible," Eda remarked as she inspected the damages. "And even if Luz was responsible for this, she'd definitely be more creative with the paint splatter. Probably make art from her flowery witch story," she said with a groan after mentioning Luz's Azura novels. "Ugh, so terrible. Like Shakespeare was butchered by a candy factory and put into a blender with Harry Potter."</p><p>"They aren't all that bad," Willow muttered, not minding Luz's love of the fantasy books.</p><p>"It doesn't matter," Bump stated. "We'll go to the Detention Hall right now and clear up this whole mess."</p><hr/><p>Inside the Detention Hall, Gus and Mattholomule were tossed into the room and the door was slammed shut before Luz could reach it, resulting in her crashing face-first into the glass of the door when she tried to make a quick and reckless escape. "Ouch," Luz moaned as she slid down the glass. A few of the other students in detention chuckled at her misfortune before the teacher in charge gave a stern glare to immediately silence them. "I just wanted to help my friend," Luz moaned as she stood up.</p><p>"You did," Gus said and got Luz's attention. "It's just that the guy you were trying to help me deal with is a huge jerk!"</p><p>"I'm not supposed to be here," Mattholomule exclaimed before a piece of chalk was thrown at his head. "Ow!"</p><p>Gus and Luz snickered along with some of the other students in detention before the teacher gave them another glare. After quieting down, the two friends spoke to each other while Mattholomule sulked in the corner next to the door instead of sitting at a desk. "Why did you get thrown in here," Luz asked Gus. "That was stupid of you," she stated.</p><p>"I know," Gus replied as he looked at his feet.</p><p>"Why did you do it," Luz questioned.</p><p>Gus sighed as he sat on the floor and hugged his knees. "Being younger than everyone is hard. You're overlooked. Ignored. But at the UMAS, I mattered. I could make sure no one would ever get left behind. I didn't wanna lose that. I'm sorry," Gus said and apologized to Luz for unintentionally getting her in trouble.</p><p>Hearing his worries, Luz put a comforting hand on Gus' shoulder as she sat down next to him. "I get it," Luz said. "I'm not exactly popular back home myself because of my 'quirky and creative free spirit' as my mom says. You could have just told me and I would have helped you."</p><p>Gus smiled at Luz in gratitude before a knock was heard at the door. Suddenly, the door was slammed open and the knob slammed into Mattolomule. "Okay, where's my kid," Eda shouted as she marched inside and looked for Luz with Principal Bump calmly stepping into the room and Willow cautiously entered with them.</p><p>"We heard about what happened with the paint and we'd like to speak with Miss Noceda," Principal Bump told the teacher in charge of Detention.</p><p>"Luz," Willow exclaimed as she saw her friend.</p><p>"Willow," the Latina said as she saw the Korean girl hug her tightly.</p><p>After the girls ended their hug, Eda spoke to Luz. "Now that 'touchy-feely happy hug time' is over, can you explain what happened about that paint bomb," the older woman questioned.</p><p>"I'm innocent! Matt tossed a thing into my hands and the guards came into the club room with paint on them," Luz exclaimed.</p><p>"She pressed the switch," Mattholomule retorted back as he moved away from the door, working through the pain from the doorknob hitting him.</p><p>"Because you were trying to usurp the UMAS from me," Gus shouted at the boy, still mad he framed Luz for his vandalism.</p><p>"Enough," Bump ordered with a voice that gave no room for questioning his authority. "Luz isn't a student at Hexside, so she's not supposed to be in Detention. Unlike Edalyn, who essentially turned it into a clubhouse. However, there's still the issue of who vandalized school property and their punishment."</p><p>"And the fire alarm that Augustus pulled," Mattholomule stated. "I had nothing to do with it," he smugly stated, only for Willow to grab him by his collar.</p><p>"If you do anything to hurt my friends, you'll regret it until graduation," Willow exclaimed as her angry stare burned into Mattholomule's soul, terrifying him.</p><p>"Willow, calm down," Gus told his friend before she dropped the boy, making him fall onto his face. "Principal Bump, I'm willing to take whatever punishment you give me. I'll even take the blame for the paint bomb that Luz was clearly framed for."</p><p>"Gus, you don't have to do that," Luz voiced.</p><p>Principal Bump and everyone in Detention were impressed that Gus was willing to stick up for his friend like he was offering. "Very well," Principal Bump said. "Because you're willing to accept more than your own punishment, I suppose that the first course of action will be removing you from the Unidentified Mysterious Animal Society," he stated, holding out his hand for Gus to give him the crown he wore as the club president.</p><p>"Okay," Gus said as he gave Bump the prop.</p><p>"As for the rest of your punishment, you will be cleaning the mess made by the paint bomb for your detention and will be finished when I see it meets standards," Bump told the boy, who agreed with the understandable punishment.</p><p>"Now that this is taken care of, let's get back to why I'm even here," Eda said. "If I remember everything, I still have to apologize to Miss Jenkinmeyer for stealing her teeth and catch all the wild dogs around the area. After that, we should be good on our deal."</p><p>"Yes, that will suffice, Edalyn," Bump said. "It will be very exciting to have a new exchange student here," he remarked, catching Luz's attention.</p><p>"Wait, what," Luz asked. Suddenly, she got a call from her mother and answered it. "Mami?"</p><p>"Hola, Luz," Camila said. "I know you've been loving it at the café so much and you'd hate to leave all your new friends when summer's over. Especially since things back home aren't exactly okay with you back at school. So, Eda and I talked about something that would benefit everyone. I'm going to try getting a job at the Bonesborough Hospital and we'll live in town."</p><p>Hearing her mother's news, Luz gasped loudly and nearly passed out. Luckily for her, Willow and Gus caught her before she hit the floor. "¡Mamá, eso es asombroso! I'll really be able to stay with all my friends!?"</p><p>"Si cariño. Quiero que seas feliz," Camila replied. "Eda even offered to speak with the local school's principal about you attending classes there in the Fall."</p><p>Hearing more about that, Luz looked at Eda, who only shrugged before Luz hugged her tightly. "Ah! Kid, enough with the sudden hugs," Eda exclaimed. "I still have stuff to do before you're enrolled here."</p><p>Willow and Gus were just as excited as Luz was about her moving to Bonesborough, happy to be with their friend for the foreseeable future. "Luz, this is wonderful," Willow said. "I'll show you everything in the greenhouse when you're a student here."</p><p>"Why wait? You guys do the tour and show Luz's mom," Gus said. "I've got something to do," he added, knowing that he had paint to clean up.</p><p>Luz and Willow smiled as they went to see Hexside with Camila on video chat to see everything for herself. As they left, Eda smiled at the sight. "She's a pain at times, but I wouldn't trade her for anything in the world," she said. "Let's go. I have an old woman to apologize to and dogs to get to the animal shelter."</p><hr/><p>After finishing the tour at Hexside, Luz was ecstatic to know her mom intended to move them to Bonesborough. Her chipper mood lasted through the rest of the day until Eda returned to the Palisman Café. "Eda, I'm so excited to know I'll be staying here in town after summer vacation," Luz exclaimed.</p><p>"Hey, can't have my best employee leave in the Fall," Eda remarked as she carried a large stack of papers and placed them down in front of the couch.</p><p>Seeing all the papers, Luz was curious about what they all were. "What's all of this?"</p><p>"After finally finishing up what Bump wanted me to do so you could attend classes, he gave me my permanent record since it was 'taking up too much space' and he needed to get rid of it," Eda said before she sat down and started looking through the various incidents that she was responsible for.</p><p>Luz sat down and joined Eda as she looked through the reports. "Filling the girl's locker room with weasels, starting a food fight because a bully took your sister's lunch money, rigging the intercoms to play 'Weird' Al songs for 5 hours straight and it only stopped when you started a fan war between two different boy bands, releasing animals from their pens and feeding them spicy snacks until they threw up all over the soccer field," Luz read as she saw each file and how the person writing the reports up kept getting snarkier with the commentary with each one. "Wow! Bump was not exaggerating. You were a terrible student."</p><p>"Hey! I worked my butt off to get you into this school for when you actually move here. I better expect <em>some </em>gratitude," Eda stated.</p><p>Luz chuckled nervously before apologizing. "Sorry, Eda. Thanks for doing all of that for me."</p><p>The older woman only gave a curt laugh. "What can I say? You've grown on me, kid. I'm sure we've got a busy day tomorrow, so let's put all this stuff away," Eda said before grabbing as many papers as she could carry. Luz did the same as they both headed upstairs to put everything away, then returned to handle the chores in the café.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>Okay, I'm finally finished with this chapter of "Palisman Café". It took a while because of life and wanting to focus on another fic, but I managed to get it done. I hope you enjoyed the character interactions and how I adapted the plot. I wanted to give Skara and the Blight Twins some moments because they're good characters that deserve more love. Plus, Skara would definitely be friends with Luz if Boscha wasn't involved. The Bard Track girl seems like the friendliest of Amity's old group and would get along with Luz's friends.</strong>
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  <strong>Now that this is finished, I'll attempt to write up this AU's version of "Escape of the Palisman" and show more about Owlbert and the Bat Queen. In that chapter or after, we'll get away from the regular story to focus on the café itself and what I've been wanting to do since starting this fic. You'll see what I get there. Until then, give some reviews and even suggestions for this story so far. I'd love to hear your feedback.</strong>
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  <strong>WaterDragonMaverick, signing out.</strong>
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